ASS-Sam Narasimhan
- Author:
- Sam N
You will use this worksheet to investigate the properties of ASS (Angle, Side, Side).
The slider labeled AB will control the length of side AB. The slider labeled BC will control the length of side BC. The measured angle is the one that you need to set. You can change the angle by either moving point B to pivot the triangle on point A and therefore changing length AC and angle C) or by simply moving point C (which also does the same thing).
The side AC is measured so that you can see how many possible triangles you can create (if all three sides of a triangle are the same as all three sides of another triangle, then the two triangles are the same. For example if triangle 1 has AB=3, BC=4, and AC=5, that's still the same triangle as triangle 2 where AB=4, BC=5, and AC=3).
Try these measurements to see how many triangles you can create. Get as close to the angle as possible (it can be hard to get it exact). The entire triangle can be moved by moving it by point A. If you flip the triangle so the angle measured is on the outside, remember that you can find the angle inside by subtracting the angle outside that's measured from 360 degrees, since the full circle's angle is 360 degrees. Make sure to experiment with pivoting the triangle so that the angle changes. See if it hits the same angle more than once and see if/how that affects side AC. Keep track of the triangles you create on your own sheet of paper.
AB=5, BC=8, angle C=35 degrees
AB=10, BC=3, angle C=115 degrees
AB=2, BC=9, angle C=10 degrees
AB=6, BC=6, angle C=60 degrees
AB=7, BC=5, angle C=100 degrees
AB=4, BC=10, angle C=20 degrees
AB=9, BC=4, angle C=80 degrees
Now some try of your own triangles! We will discuss our findings in our next class.