[Math] Does the Law of Sines and the Law of Cosines apply to all triangles

trigonometry

Do the Law of Sines and the Law of Cosines apply to all triangles? Particularly, could you use these laws on right triangles?

That is, could you use these laws instead of the Sine=opposite/hypotenuse, Cosine=adjacent/hypotenuse, and Tangent=opposite/adjacent rules to solve right triangles?

I can't find this stated in any of my textbooks, nor has my instructor said anything about it, which I find odd.

Best Answer

The law of cosines applied to right triangles is the Pythagorean theorem, since the cosine of a right angle is $0$. $$ a^2 + b^2 - \underbrace{2ab\cos C}_{\begin{smallmatrix} \text{This is $0$} \\[3pt] \text{if } C\,=\,90^\circ. \end{smallmatrix}} = c^2. $$

Of course, you can also apply the law of cosines to either of the other two angles.

$$\text{sine}=\frac{\text{opposite}}{\text{hypotenuse}};\text{ therefore }\frac{\text{opposite}}{\text{sine}} =\frac{\text{hypotenuse}}{1} = \frac{\text{hypotenuse}}{\sin90^\circ}.$$ Therefore, the law of sines applied to right triangles is valid.