Is Trigonometry Obsolete?
By Christopher MooreCan you imagine a world without tangents?
According to Dr. Norman Wildberger the traditional way we “do” trigonometry is outdated. He’s on a mission to replace the conventional trigonometric toolkit that consists of sines and cosines.
In this article, Dr. Wildberger explains:
Generations of students have struggled with classical trigonometry because the framework is wrong …
Rational trigonometry replaces sines, cosines, tangents and a host of other trigonometric functions with elementary arithmetic.
For the past two thousand years we have relied on the false assumptions that distance is the best way to measure the separation of two points, and that angle is the best way to measure the separation of two lines.
So teachers have resigned themselves to teaching students about circles and pi and complicated trigonometric functions that relate circular arc lengths to x and y projections – all in order to analyse triangles. No wonder students are left scratching their heads
Physics students often struggle with the task of resolving vectors into x and y components. So how would Dr. Wildberger’s “new” trigonometry help alleviate that pain?
Traditional ideas of angles are replaced by new concepts called “spread” and “quadrance”. To learn more, check out Dr. Wildberger’s site here.
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I don’t want to be a spammer,but reading this article I just can’t help it :
Check out my program : Vector Creation Laboratory !
It’s on my site ,in the resources section!
Comment by Horazio — Friday -- April 28th, 2006 @ 6:57 pm
It’s not spamming when it’s relevant and, more importantly, free.
Nice little program that I’m sure many will find useful.
Comment by Chris Moore — Sunday -- April 30th, 2006 @ 11:33 am