Shop Solver
Triangle Solver
Command path: Tools->Triangle Solver
The
purpose of this tool is to determine the lengths of the 3 sides and the
angles of the 3 vertices of any triangle. The user supplies 3
known lengths or angles in any combination and the tool calculates the
remaining 3. The combination of known values must include the
length of at least 1 side. It is not possible to solve a triangle
where the only known values are the angles of the 3 vertices.
The Triangle Solver tool is shown below:
Instructions
for entering the known data are shown at the top of the tool. A
default triangle is drawn below the instructions. The sides are
labeled with the lowercase letters "a", "b" and "c". The vertices
are labeled with the uppercase letters "A", "B" and "C". Note
that the labels for the sides are the lowercase letters of the vertices
opposite of them.
Click on a label or type its name to set the value of any side
or vertex. An entry field will be
displayed allowing you to
specify the value of the label. Enter the value then press the
Enter key. Click on a label again to change its value. To
cancel an entry press Enter or press Escape or click anywhere on the
tool. When 3 values have been set the triangle will redraw
showing the solution. Once the solution has been determined no
more values may be entered or changed until the Reset button is clicked.
There
are 2 radio buttons below the triangle labeled Solution 1 and Solution 2. The buttons are disabled until
the triangle is fully solved.
Some triangles have 2 solutions. If the triangle has only 1 solution
then only the Solution 1
button will be enabled. If the
triangle has 2 solutions then both buttons will be enabled and the
triangle will turn bright green to signify that there are 2 solutions.
Each solution may be displayed by clicking the solution 1 or 2
button.
Once the triangle is solved the values of the sides and
vertices are displayed below the solution buttons. In addition
the area and the perimeter length of the triangle are shown, as are the
XY coordinates of each vertex. To create a Point from any vertex
right-click on a vertex on the triangle or on a vertex label at the
bottom of the tool (immediately above the Reset button). Then click on the "Create Point..." pop-up
menu. The Shop Solver point defintion tool will be displayed where
you can enter a name for the point and save the definition to memory.
Reset Button
The Reset button clears all of the fields on the tool and redraws the default triangle image.
