I took Trigonometry in high school, and passed it, but it really didn't take. I took a one day crash course in Army Missile School and I understood all that I ever needed to know. I then took a semester of Trigonometry in college and blew right through it.

The secret to Trig is "Oscar Has A Heap Of Apples"

O
- = Sin
H

A
- = Cosine
H

O
- = Tangent
A


With these three formulas along with trig tables or a Scientific Calculator, coupled with some elementary algebra and you can solve any trig problem that anyone can ever throw at you.


When I started takinig Trig in college after a week or two I was sitting outside the classroom waiting for the teacher to show up. A guy I didn't know casually commented in a scared tone of voice something like "I will NEVER pass this course!" I looked at him and said "All you have to know is Oscar has a heap of Apples.

He looked at me like I must have rocks in my head. I wrote the above formulas on a piece of paper and pointed at each letter in turn while I sounded out Oscar - Has - A - Heap - Of - Apples.

A few weeks later, he walked up to me before class and said "You were exactly right, all you have to know is "Oscar Has A Heap Of Apples."

Don't make things too complicated. Get a scientific calculator, write down the above formulas on a piece of paper. Draw a right triangle and label the Adjacent, Opposite and Hypotenuse and teach yourself trigonometry.

The Army taught me in one day, what a college thinks it takes a semester to learn.

Hope this helps.