I was utterly confused by trigonometry in junior high, it seemed to be some kind of secret language I had missed the sacred initiation rites into. And everyone seemed to treat it as exactly that--meaningless esoterica.
And then one day someone explained the high-level point to me: "Of the six quantities of a triangle (three angles and three sides), given any three of them, at least one of which is a side, the other three are automatically nailed down." Suddenly a switch was flipped. After that, the rest is just details that write themselves.
And then one day someone explained the high-level point to me: "Of the six quantities of a triangle (three angles and three sides), given any three of them, at least one of which is a side, the other three are automatically nailed down." Suddenly a switch was flipped. After that, the rest is just details that write themselves.