Trigonometry Memory Aid

 

Howdy all,

I'm passing along a quick and easy little memory aid for Trigonometry that I picked up in Machining school decades ago. To this day I can instantly recall it and do all Trigonometry with it. All of these equations are for ^Right Angle = ^90 degree TriAngles. If the Triangle you need to figure out is not a ^Right Angled Triangle, you can bisect it into two ^90 degree triangles to calculate it. If you know any 2 sides OR 1 Side and an Angle of the ^Right Angled TriAngle, you can figure out everything about the TriAngle including Area and all other Sides & Angles with these:

Remember the phrase 'Soak A Toe' (see this image in your mind if it will help you to remember it) and phonetically it can be said as : 'SOH CAH TOA' where the latter 2 letters in each word are sides of a right angled (^90 degree) TriAngle which translates into :

. . . Sine = Opposite side over the Hypotenuse = S = O/H

. . . . . . . . . The Hypotenuse is longest side opposite the ^90 degree corner.

. . . CoSine = Adjacent side over the Hypotenuse = CoS = A/H

. . . . . . . . . The side Adjacent to the angle, but NOT the *Base.

. . . Tangent = Opposite side over the Adjacent side = T = O/A

. . . . . . . . . . The side Opposite of the included angle you are calculating.

. The Trig function calculates the angle between the 2 sides you use.

For good measure and convenience throw in:

A2 + B2 = C2 Each is a side of a ^Right triangle (Pythagoras’s Theorem)

Area of a Right angled (^90 degrees ) Triangle: A = 0.5 x B x H

. . *B = Base = the shortest side & 1 of the sides of the 90 Degree corner

. . . H = Height : Adjacent side from the right angle corner to the Hypotenuse

. . . . . . . . . . . and are always at ^90 degrees to each other.

The first thing that I do whenever I encounter a Trigonometry problem is to say the phrase to myself sounding it out like the latter phonetic 'translation' and then quickly jot the 3 abbreviated equations down and I'm off and running.

. . . . . . . . . (8 >) Prosperous Trading (< 8)

DougRH4x

 

Doug,


You're probably a well-meaning bloke, but your posts are starting to irritate.


Let's pick this one as an explanation of the many reasons why this should be the case:

- Its patronizing - programmers tend to take a pride in not forgetting their fundamental mathematics

- Its long-winded - all you had to say to remind any of us who are a bit retarded was SoHCaHToA and A^2 = B^2 + C^2

- Its ugly - are you trying to get into the record books for the number of fonts in a single post?

- Its conceited - by (generally) using a bigger font for your posts you seem to be implying that your messages are more important than everyone else's

- Its irrelevant - this is an MQL PROGRAMMING forum


Doug, do us all a favour and focus on programming your strategies and helping us all do the same.


Many thanks,

CB

 

not so easy.

For Forex, O H A B maybe some is time, and some is price, theres are not in same unit, so the difficult is not always Trigonometry, but what is the dimension unit .

 

Hi CB,

As you say, math is very pertinent and hardly irrelevant in ForEx figuring. All knowledge begins with 'I do not know' and that is certainly applicable to me here. It is quite obvious to me that there are lots of others here that know a LOT more about higher math that is very relevant and applicable to ForEx functions and programming than I do and I am learning as I go like everyone else here.

I did trig for years without knowing this handy little memory aid. I haven't done much trig for quite some time, but I can still do it because of this little pointer. I don't have a great 'wrote' memory and wouldn't have it readily accessible at any time now without this tip. It is quite likely that there are others here either now or in the future that will be happy to learn it as well. I know I was.

As for the different fonts, I do tend to use large fonts due to visual impairments which are currently compounded by a very lousy and small monitor and not because I am an egomaniac or a PrimaDona starved for attention and thus always have to have the spot light always focused only on me. I wish it was all bigger, it would make it significantly more accessible to me

Some of the variety of fonts and sizes are conscious formatting to make the priorities quick and easy to skim over and pick out by those that are already knowledgeable in this area. The rest of it is for those that don't: just putting ‘SOH CAH TOA’ on a thread would be would be meaningless to those that don’t know any trig. By itself, it would likely be the same for those that know trig but don't know about this tip and wouldn’t immediately recognize it for what it is.

I write things in a word processor and then copy and paste them and many times the editor here translates them into different fonts, shading etc in spite of my efforts to correct them and without going through the needless tedium of combing though reams of HTML code when it isn’t really that relevant. They are there for the same reason that there are thousands of different fonts when only one is really needed to communicate something: to make distinctions. Ugly? Frankly, what difference does it make? If the formatting options aren't supposed to be used, what are they there for? Do you cancel your newspaper and magazine subscriptions because everything isn’t all in one font and one size and one formatting?

This tip is relevant for those that don't know it but will utilize it in ForEx programming. One of my early questions here was: Does the MQL platform contain Trig and Calculus functions? FYI: no one ever responded to share the information with me. The thread topic that is posted for this tip is short and succinct and to the point. It is there for anyone that doesn’t know it but are interested in learning about it and take a look at it. For those that already know it, as you say they will just pass it on by as they already know it and don’t need to pick up on it.

I have found entries posted between other's here about Obama. This hardly falls into that category of irrelevance to ForEx programming.

Yes, I am a ‘well meaning bloke’ though apparently a bit retarded. Thanks for noting my effort and acknowledging what little I do have to share and contribute to others with at the beginning of this journey for me because the typeset isn’t ‘one size fits all’.

All that being said, point taken and duly noted.

 

Ha ha. Enjoyed that response. Thanks for taking the time. Its been a dull afternoon.


Rather than increasing your font when constructing a message, have you tried doing something a bit more "global" like using the accessiblity features of the OS or increasing the size of the font in your browser's rendering config? That way you'll be able to see all of our posts easily. After all, you already know what your own posts contain.


CB

 

Hi CB,

Actully it was a serious response to the points you made and my reason's for them.

If this is entertainment for you laddie, you need to get out more!

PS: Do you think that there is ANYONE here that is actually making money on the ForEx or that we are all here because we aren't and are all just chasing clouds. <<< This one is meant to be entertaining (< 8)

Have a good one.

 

It never really crosses my mind whether or not other folk on this site are making money from the forex market. My concern here is really with MQL programming and that is all.

I am making money out of the forex market - I have part ownership in a research company and my EAs are used to trade significant assets under management.

I would blooming well need to be making money from it :-) as my main career (as a commercial chopper pilot) is quiet this year, due to the global financial situation.


CB

 

As the Azies would say: Gud on ya! I'm glad to hear that there are at least some people on here that are actually successful ForEx traders.

 
DougRH4x wrote >>

For information on Inverse Trigonometric Functions click on the link or go to this Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse_trigonometric_functions

 
cloudbreaker:

It never really crosses my mind whether or not other folk on this site are making money from the forex market. My concern here is really with MQL programming and that is all.

I am making money out of the forex market - I have part ownership in a research company and my EAs are used to trade significant assets under management.

I would blooming well need to be making money from it :-) as my main career (as a commercial chopper pilot) is quiet this year, due to the global financial situation.


I spent a lot of time intentionally utilizing a considerable amount of formatting to make a concise but readily understandable presentation that could very quickly be discerned and understood
As to it 'being and insult' to MQL Programmers, not everyone has the benefit of your education, knowledge, experience and skills CB. Me for instance. While you may have a ready grasp of this information instantly at your disposal, their are undoubtedly others that know little or nothing about Trigonometry at all and need to do so in a very short time. Or used it long ago and need a quick refresher to get them up to speed on it quickly and applying it. This does just that. It's concise, clear, comprehensible for both these with no Trig experience or people in need of a quick refresher.

This concise and effective memory aid of ''Soak Ah Toe'= S=O/H - C=A/H - T=O/H' that was passed onto me decades ago allows me to immediately recall and document the necessary Trig equations and be onto solving the problem at hand in less than 30 seconds rather than wasting perhaps a considerable amount of time trying to locate a clear and concise source for this information and then having to find it within the text/reference books.
If you don't need it, then by all means don't use it. But don't invalidate it for those of us that this that need it and can benefit in a quick and effect manner.

Do we really need 'format police & enforcers'
If you are bored and have extra time on your hands, perhaps you can 'force feed me MQL4'.

Save me IF you can CB! LoL

Priorities: Like this one for instance !NOT

Those that can, do so. Those that can't become critics.

(8 >) No worries mate (<8)


 
DougRH4x:

Howdy all,

I'm passing along a quick and easy little memory aid for Trigonometry that I picked up in Machining school decades ago. To this day I can instantly recall it and do all Trigonometry with it. All of these equations are for ^Right Angle = ^90 degree TriAngles. If the Triangle you need to figure out is not a ^Right Angled Triangle, you can bisect it into two ^90 degree triangles to calculate it. If you know any 2 sides OR 1 Side and an Angle of the ^Right Angled TriAngle, you can figure out everything about the TriAngle including Area and all other Sides & Angles with these:

Remember the phrase 'Soak A Toe' (see this image in your mind if it will help you to remember it) and phonetically it can be said as : 'SOH CAH TOA' where the latter 2 letters in each word are sides of a right angled (^90 degree) TriAngle which translates into :

. . . Sine = Opposite side over the Hypotenuse = S = O/H

. . . . . . . . . The Hypotenuse is longest side opposite the ^90 degree corner.

. . . CoSine = Adjacent side over the Hypotenuse = CoS = A/H

. . . . . . . . . The side Adjacent to the angle, but NOT the *Base.

. . . Tangent = Opposite side over the Adjacent side = T = O/A

. . . . . . . . . . The side Opposite of the included angle you are calculating.

. The Trig function calculates the angle between the 2 sides you use.

For good measure and convenience throw in:

A2 + B2 = C2 Each is a side of a ^Right triangle (Pythagoras’s Theorem)

Area of a Right angled (^90 degrees ) Triangle: A = 0.5 x B x H

. . *B = Base = the shortest side & 1 of the sides of the 90 Degree corner

. . . H = Height : Adjacent side from the right angle corner to the Hypotenuse

. . . . . . . . . . . and are always at ^90 degrees to each other.

The first thing that I do whenever I encounter a Trigonometry problem is to say the phrase to myself sounding it out like the latter phonetic 'translation' and then quickly jot the 3 abbreviated equations down and I'm off and running.

. . . . . . . . . (8 >) Prosperous Trading (< 8)

DougRH4x


Thanks Doug,

That was super helpful for my grade 11 math class studying! I appreciate your examples, broken down for those of us that havn't a clue about Sin Cos tan. Also, I found the font to be the perfect size for the example given and to print it off to share with my other classmates. I have horrible vision, so it is perfect for me, thanks again!