Trigonometry- An overview of Important Topics

Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that focuses on relationships between the sides and angles of
triangles. The word trigonometry comes from the Latin derivative of Greek words for a triangle
(trigonon) and measure (metron). Trigonometry (Trig) is an intricate pieces of other branches of
mathematics such as Geometry, Algebra and Calculus

UNDERSTAND HOW ANGLES ARE MEASURED

Since Trigonometry focuses on relationships of sides and angles of a triangles, let us go over how angles
are measured. Angles are formed by an initial side and a terminal side. An initial side is said to be in
standard position when its’s vertex is located at the origin and the ray goes along the positive x axis.

An angle is measured by the amount of rotation from the initial side to the terminal side. A positive angle
is made by a rotation in the counter clockwise direction and a negative angle is made by a rotation in the
clockwise direction.
Angles can be measured in two ways:
1. Degrees
2. Radians
Basically we use these two ways to measure angles, however some use another form called revolution.
Degrees

A circle is comprised of 360 , which is called one revolution. It is believed that the Babylonians invented
the degree and always counted in base-60. This is where the initial ideas of 360 came about. It was
considered due to its readily divisible nature by many numbers. For example, 360 is divisible by every
number between 1 to 10 except 7. Science also confirms that the Earth takes close to 365 days to
complete one revolution around the sun. Most major calendars have close to 360 days in a year

Degrees are measured using protractors and is one of the most common methods of measuring angles.

Radians
Radian measure of an angle is defined as the ratio of the length of the arc that the angle subtends of a
circle, divided by the length of the radius of the same circle.
This ratio will give you the radian measure of the angle.
A radian does not have a unit. Why? Because it is the ratio of two lengths, hence the units get cancelled.
Degrees are primarily used for describing an angle. Radian are mostly used by mathematicians since most
measurement is in radians.

HOW THEN CAN WE CONVERT THE TWO?

Very simple since we know that 360  2 ( 1 revolution).

Then , 180   . From here we can simply further to find 1 radian and 1 degree

 180
1  radians and 1 radian =
180 
Example

Convert 60 into radians

Solution

 60  
60  60   
180 180 3
Example

Convert 225 to radians

Solution

 225  5
225  225   
180 180 4
Example

7
Convert into degrees
4

Solution

7 7 180 1260
    315
4 4  4
Example

7
Convert  into degrees
3
Solution

7 7 180 1260
     420
3 3  3
Exercise
1. Convert the following degree measurement into radians
a) 45
b) 76
c) 510
d) 240
e) 0
2. Convert the following radian measurement into degree
7
a)
3

b)
6
17
c) 
4
2
d)
3
5
e)
4
Solution:
1.

a)
4
19
b)
45
 17
c)
6
4
d) 
3
e) 0
2.
7
a)  420
3

b)  30
6
17
c)   765
4
2
d)  120
3
5
e)  225
4
TRIGONOMETRY FUNCTIONS
In trigonometry there are six trigonometry ratios that relate measures of a right triangle to the length of its
sides. A right triangle can be formed from an initial side x and terminal side r where r is the radius and
hypotenuse of the right triangle.

Pythagoras Theorem tells us that x 2  y 2  r 2 , therefore we can easily find our r as r  x2  y 2 .

The 6 functions are:

y opposite side
 sin   
r hypotenuse side
x adjacent side
 cos  
r hypotenuse side
y opposite side
 tan   
x adjacent side
The other three functions are simply the reciprocals of the above functions

r hypotenuse side
 csc  
y opposite side
r hypotenuse side
 sec  
x adjacent side
x adjacent side
 cot   
y opposite side
Recall: in high school you came across these acronyms SOH/CAH/TOA to help you remember the
functions.
Example: Use the triangle below to find the six trig ratios

Let us find r first. Any idea? Yes, we can use r  x 2  y 2 (from the Pythagoras Theorem).

r  x 2  y 2  52  122  25  144  169  13

Now find the values of the 6 trigonometric function.

opposite side 12 hypotenuse side 13

sin    csc  
hypotenuse side 13 opposite side 12
adjacent side 5 hypotenuse side 13
cos   sec  
hypotenuse side 13 adjacent side 5
opposite side 12 adjacent side 5
tan    cot   
adjacent side 5 opposite side 12

To find the value of  , simply take the inverse of any of those trig functions. Using a scientific
calculator:

5
  sin 1    0.4297754313045277  0.43
 12 
If you take the inverse of other trig function , it should give you the exact  value.
 SPECIAL TRIANGLES AND THEIR SIDE RATIO

These angles values can be easily verified using a calculator. If you are given a right-angle triangle
problem which has 30 , 45 or 60 , you are in luck! These angle measures belongs to special triangles.

Example: Find the values of sin 60,cos 45 and tan 30

Solution: Using the special triangle angle we then can easily calculate the required ratio.

3 1 1
sin 60  ,cos 45  , tan30 
2 2 3
Finding a missing side length given an angle measurement
Suppose you are given an angle measurement and a side length, can you find the remaining side lengths?
Yes. You can use the trig functions to formulate an equation to find missing side length of a right triangle,

Example Find the value of x

o x
First we know that sin   , therefore sin 30  .
h 5
Next we solve for x .

x  5  sin 30
 5  0.5
 2.5
Example
Let’s try another example

Solution

16
tan 52 
x
16
x 
tan 52
 12.5
Finding an angle measure using trig functions
What happens if you have a trig ratio, but you are asked to find the angles measure? You simply use the
inverse trigonometric function to find the angle measure.
Let’s see some example
Example

Solution

8
tan  
6
8
  tan 1  
 6
  53.13
Let’s try another example.
Example
The adjacent side and the hypotenuse are given, so we will use the
cosine function.

1
cos 
2
1
  cos 1  
2 
  60
USING DEFINITIONS AND FUNDAMENTAL IDENTITIES OF TRIG FUNCTIONS
Reciprocal identities

1 1
sin   csc 
csc sin 
1 1
cos  sec 
sec cos
1 1
tan   cot  
cot  tan 
Quotient Identities

sin  cos
tan   cot  
cos sin 
Pythagoras Identities

sin 2   cos 2   1
1  tan 2   sec 2 
1  cot 2   csc2 

Negative Angle Identities

sin      sin  cos     cos tan      tan 

csc      csc sec     sec cot      cot 

COMPLEMENTARY ANGLE THEOREM

If two acute angles add up to be 90 , they are considered complimentary. The followings are considered
cofunctions:
 Sine and Cosine
 Tangent and Cotangent
 Secant and Cosecant
The complementary angle theorem states that cofunctions of complimentary angles are equal.
Example

sin 54  cos36
Using Identities to find exact values of trig functions

Example

Find the exact value of the expression sin 2 30  cos 2 30 .

Solution

Since sin 2   cos 2   1 , therefore sin 2 30  cos 2 30  1

Example

Find the exact value of tan 35  cos35  csc35

Solution

sin 35 1
tan 35  cos35  csc35   cos35 
cos35 sin 35
 1
Example

2
If cot    , find csc  , where  is in Quadrant II
3
Solution

Pick an identity that relates cotangent to cosecant, like the Pythagoras identity 1  cot 2   csc 2  .

2
 2
csc 
2
 1  
 3
4
 1
9
13

9
13
csc 
9
13

3
The positive square root is chosen because csc is positive in Quadrant II

Example
Prove that the following identity is true
 1  sin x 1  csc x   cos x cot x
Solution

1  sin x 1  csc x   1  sin x  1 

1 

 sin x 
Expanding the brackets we get
1  1  sin 2 x
1  sin x  1  
 sin x  sin x
cos 2 x

sin x
cos x
 cos x
sin x
 cos x cot x

SUM AND DIFFERENCE FORMULAS FOR SINE AND COSINE FUNCTIONS

We will use formulas that involve the sum or difference of two angles, call the sum and difference
formulas.

sin      sin  cos   cos  sin  sin      sin  cos   cos  sin 
cos      cos  cos   sin  sin  cos      cos  cos   sin  sin 

Let us use these formulas to find exact values of trig functions

Example: Find the exact value of cos105

Solution:
Well , we can break 105 into 60 and 45 since these values belongs to angles in the special
triangles.

Therefore,
 cos 105   cos(60  45)
Using the sum and difference formula we get
cos  60  45   cos 60cos 45 - sin 60sin 45
 1   2   3  2 
=      
 2   2   2 
 2 
2 6
 
4 4

1
4

2 6 
Example
Find the exact value of sin15

Solution
sin15  sin  45  30 
 sin 45cos30  cos 45sin 30
 2  3   2   1 
  
      
 2  2   2   2 
6 2
 
4 4

1
4

6 2 

SUM AND DIFFERENCE FORMULAS TANGENT FUNCTIONS

tan   tan  tan   tan 
tan      tan     
1  tan  tan  1  tan  tan 

Example
Find the exact value of tan 75

Solution
 tan 75  tan  30  45 
tan 30  tan 45

1  tan 30 tan 45
3
1
 3
 3
1   1
 3 
3 3

3 3
3 3 3 3
  (rationalize the denominator)
3 3 3 3
12  6 3

6
 2 3
Example

 7 
Find the exact value of tan  
 12 
Solution

 3 4 
tan   
 7   12 12 
tan   
 12 
 7   3 4 
tan    tan   
 12   12 12 
  
 tan   
4 3
 
tan  tan
 4 3
 
1  tan tan
4 3
1 3

1 3
1 3 1 3
   Rationalise the denominator 
1 3 1 3
42 3

2
 2  3
Cofunction Identities

cos  90     sin  sec  90     csc

sin  90     cos csc  90     sec
tan  90     cot  cot  90     tan 

Example

Find the exact value of cos30

Solution

3
cos30  sin  90  30   sin 60 
2
Well of course you will get exactly the same answer if evaluate cos30 using the special triangle
properties.

DOUBLE ANGLE FORMULAS HALF ANGLE FORMULAS

sin 2  2sin  cos  1  cos 

sin 
2 2
cos 2  cos 2   sin 2   1  cos 
tan 
 2cos 2   1 2 1  cos 
sin 
 1  2sin 2  
1  cos 
2 tan  1  cos 
tan 2  
sin 
1  tan 2 
 1  cos
cos  
2 2

Lets see these actions in actions

Example: Use the double angle formula to find the exact value of each expression

a) sin120
5 3
b) If tan   and     . Find cos2
12 2
Solution

3
a) sin120  sin 2  60   2sin 60  cos60 
2
5
b) Now tan  = . Here the opposite side is 5 and the adjacent side is 12. The hypotenuse side
12
12
then will be : r  122  52  13 . Now, cos  = .
13
 5 12 5
tan   ; cos   ; sin   .
12 13 12

Now use the double angle formula to find cos2

2
5  25  50 119
cos 2  1  2sin 2   1  2sin 2    1  2   1 
 12   169  169 169
We take the positive answer since  is in Quadrant III making the ratio a negative over a
negative.

Now let’s try using the half angle formula

Example:
cos15

Solution
3
1
30 1  cos30 2  2 3
cos15  cos  
2 2 2 2
Choose the positive root
Example

4 
If cos   and 90    180 . . Find sin
5 2
Solution
First we use the Pythagorean theorem to find the third side

42  x 2  52.  x  3

 4 9
1  
sin     5    5   9  3 10
2 2 10 10
Since sin is positive in the third quadrant, we take the positive answer.

PRODUCT TO SUM FORMULAS

1 1
cos A cos B  cos  A  B   cos  A  B   cos A sin B  sin  A  B   sin  A  B  
2 2
1 1
sin A sin B  cos  A  B   cos  A  B   sin A cos B  sin  A  B   sin  A  B  
2 2

Example: Use the product to sum formula to change sin 75 sin15 to a sum
Solution

cos  75  15   cos  75  15  
1
sin 75 sin15 
2 

cos  60   cos  90  
1

2 
1 1 
   0
2 2 
1

4

SUM TO PRODUCT FORMULAS

 A B  A B  A B  A B
cos A  cos B  2cos   cos   cos A  cos B  2sin   sin  
 2   2   2   2 
 A B  A B  A B  A B
sin A  sin B  2sin   cos   sin A  sin B  2cos   sin  
 2   2   2   2 

Example: Use the sum to product formula to change sin 70  sin 30 into a product.
Solution

 70  30   70  30 
sin 70  sin 30  2cos   sin    2cos50  sin 20
 2   2 
LAW OF SINES AND COSINES
These laws help us find missing information dealing with oblique triangles. Oblique triangles are non-
right angled triangle.
1. Law of Sines
2. Law of Cosines

Law of Sines

sin A sin B sin C

 
a b c

You can use the Law of sines when the problem is referring to two sets of angles and their opposite sides.
Example: Find the length of AB. Round your answer to sets of angles.
Since we are given information about an angle, the side opposite of
that angle, another angle, and missing side of that angle, we can apply
the Law of Sines

sin 92 sin 28

15 AB
15  sin 28
Cross – multiply and simplify gives us AB   7.0463
sin 92
Then we round it to the nearest tenth AB  7

Law of Cosines

a 2  b 2  c 2  2bc cos A
b 2  a 2  c 2  2ac cos B
c 2  a 2  b 2  2ab cos C

You can use the Law of Cosine when the problem is referring to all three sides and only one angle.

Example: Find the length AB. Round to the nearest tenth.

Since all the three sides of the triangle are referred to and information about one angle
is given, we can use the Law of Cosine.
Since AB is opposite of angle C we will call it side c and use the following formula,

c2  a 2  b 2  2bc cos A
 132  202  2 13 20  cos93
 596
c  14

UNDERSTAND KEY FEATURES OF TRIG GRAPHS

This section will give you a quick overview of the graphs of the three main trig functions, sine, cosine,
and tangent. This section will not go over how to graph these functions, but rather how to recognize key
features of the graphs.
The graphs of sine and cosine are considered periodic functions, which basically means their values repeat
in regular intervals known as periods.

A periodic function is a function f such that: f  x   f  x  np 

We discussed that one revolution of the unit circle is 2 , meaning that circumference of the unit circle is
2 . Therefore, the sine and cosine function have a period of 2 .
Graphs of Sine function: f  x   sin x

 Range of the function is [-1,1]

 Domain is  ,  
 The x  intercept are always in the form n , where n is an integer
 The period is 2
 f  x   sin x is an odd function since it is symmetrical about the origin
 The period is 2 because the sine function repeats every 2 units.

Graphs of Cosine function: f  x   cos x

 Range of the function is [-1,1]

 Domain is  ,  
 f  x   cos x is an even function because it is symmetrical about the y  axis
 The period is 2 because the cosine waves repeats every 2 units
KEY FEATURES OF THE SINE AND COSINE FUNCTION

Amplitude measures how many units above and below the midline of the graphs the function
goes. For example, the sine function wave has an amplitude of 1 because it goes one unit up and
down from the x  axis.

y  A sin x
Amplitude

Here A is the amplitude. The graph of y  A sin x and y  A cos x , where A  0 will have a
range of [  A, A]

y  sin x

y  2sin x

y  sin x and y  2sin x

on the same axis

Clearly you can see the effect of the amplitude to the function y  sin x . When the amplitude is
2, you can see the graph is stretched up. Now the range changes to [-2,2].
 What do you think would happen if you change the amplitude to 0.5 or 3?.

Check it out below.

y  0.5sin x y  3sin x

Does this happen with Cosine as well?

Let’s take a look at y  2cos x

2 vertically stretches the original graph

We can conclude that the amplitude vertically stretches or shrinks both the sine and cosine graphs. Notice that
when the amplitude was changed, the function still repeats every 2 units. The amplitude therefore does
not affect the period of the function.
Let us see the effect of the amplitude to sine and cosine function.

The impact of the amplitude onto y  sin x The impact of the amplitude onto y  cos x
Period

Take a look again at the graph y  sin x and compare that to y  sin 2 x

y  sin x y  sin 2 x

For y  sin 2 x , you will notice that the sine wave repeats every  units instead of every 2
units . This means the function is finishing its cycle twice as fast, which means its periods is half
as long. If you consider the function y  sin Bx , the B values affects the period of the
function. It will horizontally stretch or compressed the graph. See the effect of 0.5 to the function
y  sin x . Below is the graph of y  sin  0.5 x 

From the graph, y  sin 0.5 x is in green and the original function y  sin x is in red. The original
function is being horizontally stretched in y  sin 0.5 x .

Below you can clearly see the effects of the period to both the graphs of y  sin x and y  cos x

The impact of the period onto y  sin x The impact of the period onto y  cos x
 2
There is a general formula used to find the period   of a sine and cosine function.  
B

Phase Shift
Not only can the graphs be contracted or stretched vertically and horizontally, but they can also be shifted
left and right and up and down. Let us look at the horizontal shift

 
If we change the equation to y  cos  x   , see what happens to the graph.
 2

 The red graph is the original y  cos x and the green wave is the graph of
 
y  cos  x   .
 2

 You will notice that the original graph was shifted units to the right.
2
  
 If the equation had been y  cos  x   , the graph would have shifted 2 units to
 2
the left.
 When the graph is shifted to the left or to the right, it is called the “phase shift”.
 . If you consider the equation y  A cos  Bx  C  , the phase shift can be found by
C
taking  . The sine function will also have the same effect.
B

Vertical Shift

Consider the function in the form y  sin x  C and y  cos x  C .

Let’s take a look at the function when we change it to y  cos x  3

Here you can see that when you add a number at the end, you shift the graph up that many units and if
you subtract a number at the end, you shift the graph down that many units. When the function is written
in the form y  A cos( Bx  C )  D , D controls whether the function will be shifted up or down.

Negative effect on the Amplitude

The graph is reflected upon the x  axis when a negative is multiplied to a sine and cosine function.
The effect of (-) to Cosine function The effect of (-) to Sine function

Summary

y   A cos( Bx  C )  D and y   A sin( Bx  C )  D

 (-) on the amplitude, the graph is reflected to the x  axis

2
 The period is determined by the formula  
B
C
 The phase shift is controlled by 
B
 The vertical shift is controlled by  D
THE GRAPH OF THE TANGENT FUNCTION

 If you notice, the range of the tangent function is  ,   and the domain is
  
 x : x  n  , n  Z 
 2 
 The x  intercepts are always in the form of n
 The period is 
 The tangent will be zero whenever the numerator(sine) is zero
 The tangent will be undefined whenever the denominator (cosine) is zero

 The tangent function has vertical asymptotes at value of x in the form of x  n 
2
 Since the function is symmetrical about the origin, it is an odd function.

KEY FEATURES OF THE TANGENT FUNCTION

Amplitude
Amplitude does not apply to the tangent function since there are no minimum or maximum values.
Period


Consider the tangent function in the form y  tan Bx. To determine the period use .
B
Below is the period calculation of the two functions: y  tan x and y  tan 2 x .

The period for y  tan x The period for y  tan 2 x

 
 ; B 1  ; B2
B B
 
  
1 2
 For the graph, y  tan x you will notice that the Compare it to , y  tan 2 x you will notice that
tangent function repeats itself every  units 
the tangent function repeats itself every units.
2

Vertical Asymptotes
The tangent function has something called vertical asymptotes, which are invisible vertical lines that the
function approaches, but never crosses. To find the two consecutive vertical asymptotes of a tangent

function you can solve the equation: Bx   .
2

Consider the graph of y  tan  0.5 x 

You can see from the graph that vertical lines are  and  . This is simply calculated by using the

formula: Bx  
2
1 1 
In this case B  ; x   ; x  
2 2 2
Phase Shift
The phase shift for the tangent function works the same way as the sine and cosine function.

 
Let us consider the graph of the function y  tan  x  .
 2

 
The red graph is y  tan x and the green graph is y  tan  x  .
 2

  
Notice that the function appears the same except that y  tan  x   is shifted 2 units to the right.
 2

Vertical Shift
Again this works the same for the tangents as it did for sine and cosine. Consider the graph of the
functions y  tan x  1

The original function, y  tan x is in red and the green is y  tan x  1 .Clearly, you can see that the
function y  tan x  1 is shifted up by one unit.