Question

What are the values of cos Y
and cotX
in the triangle below?

Right triangle X Y Z is shown with labeled sides. Side X Y is the hypotenuse and it is labeled the square root of 34. Side Y Z is the height and it is labeled 3. Side Z X is the base and it is labeled 5.

Answer 1

With right angle at Z, the side adjacent to ∠Y is YZ = 3 and the hypotenuse is XY = √34, so
cos Y = 3/√34 = 3√34/34.

For ∠X the adjacent side is ZX = 5 and the opposite is YZ = 3, so
cot X = 5/3.