It is said that there are six ratios possible for the lengths of the sides of a right triangle. You have learned about the sine (sin), cosine (cos), and tangent (tan) ratios. The three other trigonometric ratios are their reciprocals.

Cosecant (csc): is the reciprocal of sine, i.e. the ratio of the length of the hypotenuse to the length of the opposite side.

csc θ = _1_ sinθ = hyp opp

Find the value of cscB

First find the length of the hypotenuse. Using the Pythagorean Theorem, or recognizing the Pythagorean Triple 5-12-13, the length of the hypotenuse is 13.

cscB

=

13 12