Astronomy

Since ancient times trigonometry

was used in astronomy.
The technique of triangulation is
used to measure the distance to
nearby stars.

In 240 B.C., a mathematician

named Eratosthenes discovered
the radius of the Earth using
trigonometry and geometry.

In 2001, a group of European

astronomers did an experiment
that started in 1997 about the
distance of Venus from the Sun.
Venus was about 105,000,000
kilometers away from the Sun .

Navigation
What can you do with trig? Historically,
it was developed for astronomy and
geography, but scientists have been
using it for centuries for other
purposes, too. Besides other fields of
mathematics, trig is used in physics,
engineering, and chemistry. Within
mathematics, trig is used in primarily
in calculus (which is perhaps its
greatest application), linear algebra,
and statistics. Since these fields are
used throughout the natural and social
sciences, trig is a very useful subject
to know.

Music theory

trigonometry is used to graph sine,

cosine and tangents waves. Higher pitch
and lower pitch and higher and lower
amplitude are described with
trigonometry equations. Music is
trig/math and physics. When we listen
to music and think how beautiful it is we
are appriciating the mathematics of the
waves. It's also Calculus. Derivatives
describe the rate which something
changes, and as one note changes to
the next the changes are derivatives.
Even people who have never studied
mathematics deeply appreciate it even
if they don't know it.

Acoustics
Amongst the lay public of nonmathematicians and non-scientists,
trigonometry is known chiefly for its
application to measurement
problems, yet is also often used in
ways that are far more subtle, such
as its place in the theory of music;
still other uses are more technical,
such as in number theory. The
mathematical topics of Fourier
series and Fourier transforms rely
heavily on knowledge of
trigonometric functions and find
application in a number of areas, including statistics.

Optics

Optics deals with light waves, and all waves

relate in some way to trigonometry. Also,
the reflection and refraction of light involves
trigonometry.