Trigonomics – Support
Listed below are issues, questions, and suggestions identified via e-mails or reviews on the App Store, along with our best attempts to answer or address them. Thanks to everyone who provided reviews (and especially thanks to those that provided constructive feedback and helpful suggestions)!
Got your own issues, questions, or suggestions? Please write us at any time!
- I put: a=12 b=12 c=12. Got this answer: 59.999996, 59.999996, 60.000008
- This app asks users to enter side or angle values a, b, c...But it doesn’t have a diagram which side is a, b, c...How do I know which side is which?
- I used it on my homework to check my work. My only problem is during ambiguous case triangles! For example, let’s say angle B ends up being 50 degrees and side c is 13. The app will tell me that this is an ambiguous case and that angle B could also be 130 degrees. This is great, but it doesn’t tell me what side c could also be.
- The unit circle...only allows select, standard angles (30, 45, 60, 90...), and only gives you the formulas for X and Y. Okay for student theory, but I was expecting a practical tool. I should be able to put in (or drag) any angle and any radius and get the X and Y solutions...the circle is intuitive for certain mechanical designs.
- The graph page is purely academic. Nice but no ability to enter factors nor tap on the graph to get the accurate numerical value at a point.
1. I put: a=12 b=12 c=12. Got this answer: 59.999996, 59.999996, 60.000008
Oh, the perils of floating point arithmetic! What you’re seeing is not a true bug, but rather the unfortunate results of imperfect rounding that can occur on any computer. If you go to the Settings app and choose Trigonomics, you will find there is a setting for precision. Choose any but "Unlimited" and the proper angles you are expecting will be displayed. In version 1.0.1, we made some adjustments to address this issue. Thanks for the feedback!
2. This app asks users to enter side or angle values a, b, c...But it doesn’t have a diagram which side is a, b, c...How do I know which side is which?
Thanks for taking the time to review the app. Actually, Trigonomics doesn’t care which side is which. That’s one of the nice features of this app: You can assign any value to any side. It’s arbitrary! In some apps or often in textbooks, side C is shown as the longest side (and hypotenuse in the case of a right triangle). Feel free to make the same assignment in Trigonomics.
If there are others that want to see the triangle drawn before any values are entered, send us a suggestion. If we find many want this, we can always add it as a optional feature.
3. I used it on my homework to check my work. My only problem is during ambiguous case triangles! For example, let’s say angle B ends up being 50 degrees and side c is 13. The app will tell me that this is an ambiguous case and that angle B could also be 130 degrees. This is great, but it doesn’t tell me what side c could also be.
As Orville said to Wilbur, “You’re (W)right!” Our original intent was to simply warn the user that two different angles can exist because of the ambiguous case, and depending upon your choice of angle, can impact the length of the side opposite of the ambiguous angle. However, knowing the possible values of the opposite side length is certainly a good idea, so we added it in version 1.1.
But wait a minute, you’re using Trigonomics only to check your work, right? Don’t make us contact your parents...
4. The unit circle...only allows select, standard angles (30, 45, 60, 90...), and only gives you the formulas for X and Y. Okay for student theory, but I was expecting a practical tool. I should be able to put in (or drag) any angle and any radius and get the X and Y solutions...the circle is intuitive for certain mechanical designs.
Our thought on the unit circle was for it to be a study aid, but that’s a great idea to make it more practical! Thanks for explaining why you're not 100% satisfied. We’re pleased to say we’ve added the ability to calculate coordinates for any angle in version 1.1. (We like the idea of including a radius...maybe in a future version. We’ll have to rename that tab though...with a radius of something other than 1, it will no longer be the unit circle.)
5. The graph page is purely academic. Nice but no ability to enter factors nor tap on the graph to get the accurate numerical value at a point.
Hmmm...we agree the graph is academic. It was intended to be illustrative (and fun with the animation). However, we like your suggestions of adding scaling factors and knowing what a numerical value is at a point.