"if side a = 4, find x and y in a triangle"
You have to have much more information here.
I thought I needed more information too but that's how its worded on my test so I wasn't sure if I was just understanding it wrong. I'll call my teacher. Thank you.
Do you have a figure to go with it?
To find the values of x and y in a triangle given that side a equals 4, we need some additional information about the triangle. Specifically, we need to know the lengths of at least two sides or one side and an angle.
If we are given the lengths of two sides, we can use the Law of Cosines to determine the unknown angles and then use the Law of Sines to find the remaining side lengths.
If we know one side and an angle, we can use the Law of Sines to find the remaining side lengths and angles.
Without further information, it is not possible to determine the values of x and y in the triangle.