Chapter 3 - Trigonometric Functions
Chapter 3 - Trigonometric Functions
If I turn my car around to face the other direction, we say I have turned it 180 degrees. Degrees
are one of the units we use to measure an angle. We base the degree system off the fact that a
circle has 360°. So, if we’re turning if our angle is one-quarter of a full circle, we say it has
1
measure (360 o ) = 90 o .
4
However, this is not the way most sciences measure angles. Just as we have Fahrenheit and
Celsius measures of temperature, there is more than one way to measure an angle. The preferred
method in the sciences is to work in radians. Almost all of your work in math from this point
forward will work in radians.
To find the measure of an angle using radians, we use the fact that a circle has 2π radians. So, if
we are talking about an angle that measures a quarter of a circle, it’s radian measure would be
1 !
(2! ) = . To convert between degrees and radians, we can use the following:
4 2
& 180 #
1 radian = $ ! degrees
% ' "
& ' #
1 degree = $ ! radians
% 180 "
Problems
! !
3 2 4
2
1 1
! !
6 4
3 1
Since the ratio of the sides of any two similar triangles are the same, we have some functions to
describe these ratios. The sine function represents the ratio of the side opposite θ to the
hypoteneuse, the cosine function is the ration of the side adjacent to θ to the hypotenuse and the
tangent function is the ratio of the side opposite θ to the side adjacent to θ. These formulas can
be remembered as “SOHCAHTOA”.
opp
sin ! =
hyp
adj
cos ! =
hyp
opp
tan ! =
adj
!
Example 1: Find sin .
6
! opp
Solution: We locate the triangle with an angle measuring . Since sin measures we look
6 hyp
! ! 1
at the side opposite and get 1 and the hypotenuse is 2. Thus, sin = .
6 6 2
An easy way to remember the values for sine and cosine for these basic acute angles is to draw a
table. List the basic angles in increasing order as follows:
Then, fill in all the blanks with a fraction with a 2 in the denominator.
Working your way across the row for sin, fill in with the numerators with 0,1, 2 , 3 , 2.
θ 0 π/6 π/4 π/3 π /2
sin θ 0/2 1/2 2 /2 3 /2 2 /2
cos θ /2 /2 /2 /2 /2
Last, fill in the cosine row from right to left with the same numbers: 0,1, 2 , 3 , 2.
θ 0 π/6 π/4 π/3 π /2
sin θ 0/2 1/2 2 /2 3 /2 2 /2
cos θ 2/2 3 /2 2 /2 1 /2 0/2
Problems
2) Fill in the following chart using your knowledge of the triangles. Do not use the above
chart.
! 0 ! ! ! !
6 4 3 2
sin !
cos!
tan !
Trigonometric Functions for Other Angles
The above method will help us evaluate the trigonometric functions for acute angles. To
evaluate obtuse or negative angles, we can apply this information to the circle with radius r. If
we let (x,y) be any point on the circle then the trig functions can be defined as:
y (x,y)
sin ! =
r
r
x y
cos ! =
r !
y
tan ! =
x x
Note that this gives the same result as the triangles above, it’s just a different way to look at it.
Obtuse angles
To evaluate the trigonometric functions for obtuse angles, we use the idea of reference angles.
The reference angle of θ is the measure of the angle between the terminal side of θ and the x-
7! !
axis. So, for example, the reference angle of is because the measure from the x-axis to
6 6
7! !
is .
6 6
7!
6
!
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Evaluating a trig function at any angle can be accomplished by evaluating that function at it’s
reference angle and then adjusting the sign if necessary. Since sine depends on y, it is positive
where y is positive: in the first and second quadrants. Since cosine depends on x, it is positive
where x is positive: in the first and fourth quadrant. Since tangent depends on both x and y, it is
positive when both x and y have the same sign: in the first and fourth quadrants.
S A
Sine All
T C
Tangent Cosine
& 7' #
Example 3: Find sin $ !.
% 6 "
& 7' # 7! !
Solution: To evaluate sin $ ! , we first find the reference angle of which is . So,
% 6 " 6 6
& 7' # &' # 1
instead of finding sin $ ! we find sin $ ! = . We then check to be sure the sign is correct.
% 6 " %6" 2
7!
Since is in the third quadrant, we know it’s sine value should be negative, so
6
' 7( $ 1
sin % "=! .
& 6 # 2
& 3' #
Example 4: Find tan$ ! .
% 4 "
3! ! &' # 3!
Solution: The reference angle of is . tan$ ! = 1 and is in the second quadrant
4 4 %4" 4
' 3( $
where tangent is negative. Thus, tan% " = !1 .
& 4 #
Problems
3) Fill in the following chart of values using the unit circle, and your knowledge of reference
angles.
! ! 2! ! 4! 5! 5! 7! 11! 3! 3! 5! 7! 2!
3 3 3 3 6 6 6 2 4 4 4
sin !
cos!
tan !
& 5' #
Example 5: Evaluate sec$ ! .
% 4 "
& 5' # & 5' #
Solution: To find sec$ ! , we first find cos$ ! .
% 4 " % 4 "
' 5( $ 1
cos% " = !
& 4 # 2
& 5' # 1 1
sec$ ! = = =! 2
% 4 " cos& 5' # ! 1
$ !
% 4 " 2
Problems
4) Fill in the following chart using your knowledge of the triangles. Do not use the above
chart.
! ! ! !
6 4 3
csc!
sec!
cot !
5) Fill in the following chart of values using the unit circle, and your knowledge of reference
angles.
! ! 2! 4! 5! 5! 7! 11! 3! 5! 7!
3 3 3 3 6 6 6 4 4 4
csc!
sec!
cot !
Graphs of the trigonometric functions
The graphs of the basic trig functions are given below.
In working with trigonometric expressions, there are times when we want to move from one
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expression to one that is easier to work with. For example, we might have in an equation
sec x
and we can agree that cosx is a much simpler way to express this fraction.
Pythagorean Identities
sin2x+cos2x=1
1+tan2x=sec2x
1+cot2x=csc2x
The last two from above can be remembered using the sentence “I tan in a second.”
! !
Example 7: Find sin( + ).
3 4
! ! ! ! ! ! 3& 2# 1& 2# 6+ 2
Solution: sin( + ) = sin( ) cos( ) + cos( ) sin( ) = $
$
!+ $
! $
!=
!
3 4 3 4 3 4 2 % 2 " 2% 2 " 4
1 ! sin 2 x
Example 8: Simplify
cos(! x)
1 ! sin 2 x cos 2 x cos 2 x
Solution: = = = cos x
cos(! x) cos(! x) cos( x)
Problems
cos x sec x
b) = tan x
cot x
cos r
c) tan r + = sec r
1 + sin r
cos t 1 ! sin t
d) + = 2 sec t
1 ! sin t cos t
&' ' #
c) sin $ + !
%6 3"
e) cos(75 o )
f) sin(105 o )