Tuesday, 6 December 2016

trigonometry - Solving for angles in a Tetrahedron

I have a triangulation problem I'm trying to solve for a work project. It's been ages since I've taken a math class so assume that I've forgotten everything because I probably have.



So here's the situation:



I have a tetrahedron (ABCD). I know all three angles (ABCACBBAC) and the lengths of all three sides (¯AB ¯AC ¯BC) of the base (ABC). I know all three angles around the peak (D) (ADB ADC BDC). With that I can deduce the dihedral angles between three faces (ABD to ACD, ACD to BCD, ABD to BCD).




How can I solve for the lengths of any of the sides between the base and the peak (¯AD ¯BD ¯CD), or any of the remaining angles (ABD BAD ACD CAD BCD CBD)?



diagram



It seems to me with a base having a fixed, known shape and size, and fixed angles around the fourth point, it should be possible to directly deduce the rest of the angles and side lengths.



Thanks in advance.



-Jon




UPDATE:



I feel like there's something lurking in the Law of Sines. Since I have one angle and its opposite side for faces ABD ACD and BCD, I know the ratio between the sines of the unknown angles and their opposite faces. Also, from the Law of Sines as applied to a tetrahedron I know the ratio between the sines of angles from adjacent faces opposite their shared side:



sin(ABD)sin(ACD)=sin(ADB)sin(ABC)sin(ADC)sin(ACB)



To satisfy the ratios within both ABD and ACD, AND the ratio between sin(ABD) and sin(ACD) should force only one possibility for ¯AD, right?

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