5.

3  Trigonometric Graphs
■  Graphs of Sine and Cosine  ■  Graphs of Transformations of Sine and Cosine 
■  Using Graphing Devices to Graph Trigonometric Functions

The graph of a function gives us a better idea of its behavior. So in this section we graph
the sine and cosine functions and certain transformations of these functions. The other
trigonometric functions are graphed in the next section.

■  Graphs of Sine and Cosine

To help us graph the sine and cosine functions, we first observe that these functions
repeat their values in a regular fashion. To see exactly how this happens, recall that
the circumference of the unit circle is 2p. It follows that the terminal point P1 x, y2
determined by the real number t is the same as that determined by t  2p. Since
the sine and cosine functions are defined in terms of the coordinates of P1 x, y2 , it fol-
lows that their values are unchanged by the addition of any integer multiple of 2p. In
other words,

sin1 t  2np2  sin t for any integer n

cos1 t  2np2  cos t for any integer n

Thus the sine and cosine functions are periodic according to the following definition:
A function f is periodic if there is a positive number p such that f 1 t  p2  f 1 t2
for every t. The least such positive number (if it exists) is the period of f. If f has
period p, then the graph of f on any interval of length p is called one complete
period of f.

Periodic Properties of Sine and Cosine

The functions sine and cosine have period 2p:

sin1 t  2p2  sin t cos1 t  2p2  cos t

Table 1 So the sine and cosine functions repeat their values in any interval of length 2p. To
sketch their graphs, we first graph one period. To sketch the graphs on the interval
t sin t cos t
0  t  2p, we could try to make a table of values and use those points to draw the
p graph. Since no such table can be complete, let’s look more closely at the definitions of
0S 0S1 1S0
these functions.
2
p Recall that sin t is the y-coordinate of the terminal point P1 x, y2 on the unit circle
Sp 1S0 0 S 1 determined by the real number t. How does the y-coordinate of this point vary as t in-
2
3p creases? It’s easy to see that the y-coordinate of P1 x, y2 increases to 1, then decreases
pS 0 S 1 1 S 0 to 1 repeatedly as the point P1 x, y2 travels around the unit circle. (See Figure 1.) In
2
3p fact, as t increases from 0 to p/2, y  sin t increases from 0 to 1. As t increases from
S 2p 1 S 0 0S1 p/2 to p, the value of y  sin t decreases from 1 to 0. Table 1 shows the variation of
2
the sine and cosine functions for t between 0 and 2p.
y y

(ç t‚, ß t‚)
y=ß t

t‚
2π
0 1 x 0 t‚ t

Figure 1

To draw the graphs more accurately, we find a few other values of sin t and cos t in
Table 2. We could find still other values with the aid of a calculator.
Table 2
p p p 2p 5p 7p 4p 3p 5p 11p
t 0 p 2p
6 3 2 3 6 6 3 2 3 6
1 !3 !3 1 1 !3 !3 1
sin t 0 1  0   1   0
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
!3 1 1 !3 !3 1 1 !3
cos t 1 0   1    0 1
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Now we use this information to graph the functions sin t and cos t for t between
0 and 2p in Figures 2 and 3. These are the graphs of one period. Using the fact that these
functions are periodic with period 2p, we get their complete graphs by continuing the
same pattern to the left and to the right in every successive interval of length 2p.
The graph of the sine function is symmetric with respect to the origin. This is as
expected, since sine is an odd function. Since the cosine function is an even function,
its graph is symmetric with respect to the y-axis.
y y

4π 5π
3 3
1 7π 3π 11π 1 y=ß t
6 2 6
0 π π 5π π 2π t _π 0 π 2π 3π 4π t
_1 6 2 6 _1
π 2π
3 3
Period 2π
One period of y=ß t
0≤t≤2π
Figure 2 Graph of ß t
 y y

2π 4π
3 3 1 y=ç t
1 5π 7π 3π
6 6 2
0 π π π 5π 2π t _π 0 π 2π 3π 4π t
_1 6 2 3 _1
π 11π
3 6
Period 2π
One period of y=ç t
0≤t≤2π
Figure 3  Graph of cos t

■  Graphs of Transformations of Sine and Cosine

We now consider graphs of functions that are transformations of the sine and cosine
functions. Thus, the graphing techniques of Section 2.6 are very useful here. The graphs
we obtain are important for understanding applications to physical situations such as
harmonic motion (see Section 5.6), but some of them are beautiful graphs that are in-
teresting in their own right.
It’s traditional to use the letter x to denote the variable in the domain of a function.
So from here on we use the letter x and write y  sin x, y  cos x, y  tan x, and so on
to denote these functions.

Example 1  ■  Cosine Curves

Sketch the graph of each function.
(a) f 1 x2  2  cos x      (b)  g1 x2  cos x
Solution
(a) T he graph of y  2  cos x is the same as the graph of y  cos x, but shifted up
2 units (see Figure 4(a)).
(b) The graph of y  cos x in Figure 4(b) is the reflection of the graph of y  cos x
in the x-axis.

Ï ˝

Ï=2+ç x

1 1 ˝=_ç x

0 π 2π x 0 π 2π x
_1 _1
y=ç x y=ç x

(a) (b)
Figure 4
Now Try Exercises 5 and 7 ■

Let’s graph y  2 sin x. We start with the graph of y  sin x and multiply the
y-coordinate of each point by 2. This has the effect of stretching the graph vertically by
a factor of 2. To graph y  12 sin x, we start with the graph of y  sin x and multiply
422  CHAPTER 5  ■  Trigonometric Functions: Unit Circle Approach

Vertical stretching and shrinking of the y-coordinate of each point by 12 . This has the effect of shrinking the graph vertically
graphs is discussed in Section 2.6. by a factor of 12 (see Figure 5).
y
3
y=2 ß x
2
y= 21 ß x
1

_π 0 π 2π x

_2
y=ß x

Figure 5

In general, for the functions

y  a sin x and y  a cos x
the number 0 a 0 is called the amplitude and is the largest value these functions attain.
Graphs of y  a sin x for several values of a are shown in Figure 6.
y
y=3 ß x
3
y=12 ß x
2

_π
π 2π x

y=ß x
_3
y=_2 ß x
Figure 6

Example 2  ■  Stretching a Cosine Curve

Find the amplitude of y  3 cos x, and sketch its graph.
Solution    The amplitude is 0 3 0  3, so the largest value the graph attains is
3 and the smallest value is 3. To sketch the graph, we begin with the graph of
y  cos x, stretch the graph vertically by a factor of 3, and reflect in the x-axis,
arriving at the graph in Figure 7.
y
y=_3 ç x
3
2
1
π
_π 0 2π x
y=ç x

_3
Figure 7
Now Try Exercise 11 ■

Since the sine and cosine functions have period 2p, the functions
y  a sin kx and y  a cos kx 1 k  02

Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
 complete one period as kx varies from 0 to 2p, that is, for 0  kx  2p or for
0  x  2p/k. So these functions complete one period as x varies between 0 and 2p/k
and thus have period 2p/k. The graphs of these functions are called sine curves and
cosine curves, respectively. (Collectively, sine and cosine curves are often referred to
as sinusoidal curves.)

Sine and Cosine Curves

The sine and cosine curves
y  a sin kx and y  a cos kx 1 k  02
have amplitude 0 a 0 and period 2p/k.
An appropriate interval on which to graph one complete period is 30, 2p/k4.

To see how the value of k affects the graph of y  sin kx, let’s graph the sine curve
y  sin 2x. Since the period is 2p/2  p, the graph completes one period in the
Horizontal stretching and shrinking of interval 0  x  p (see Figure 8(a)). For the sine curve y  sin 12 x the period is
graphs is discussed in Section 2.6. 2p 4 12  4p, so the graph completes one period in the interval 0  x  4p (see Fig-
ure 8(b)). We see that the effect is to shrink the graph horizontally if k  1 or to stretch
the graph horizontally if k  1.
y y
y=ß 2x y=ß 21 x
1 1
_π _π
π π 2π x _2π π 2π 3π 4π x
2
_1

Figure 8 (a) (b)

For comparison, in Figure 9 we show the graphs of one period of the sine curve
y  a sin kx for several values of k.
y
y=a ß x
a

0 π 2π 3π 4π 5π 6π x
_a
y=a ß 2x y=a ß 21 x y=a ß 31 x

y Figure 9
y=4 ç 3x
4 Example 3  ■  Amplitude and Period
Find the amplitude and period of each function, and sketch its graph.
(a) y  4 cos 3x      (b)  y  2 sin 12 x
Solution
π π 0 π π π 2π π 7π x (a) We get the amplitude and period from the form of the function as follows.
_ _
2 3 6 3 2 3 6
amplitude  0 a 0  4

y  4 cos 3x

_4 2p 2p
period  
k 3

Figure 10 The amplitude is 4, and the period is 2p/3. The graph is shown in Figure 10.
 y (b) For y  2 sin 12 x,
y=_2 ß 21 x
2 amplitude  0 a 0  0 2 0  2
2p
period  1
 4p
2
0 π 2π 3π 4π x
The graph is shown in Figure 11.
_2
Now Try Exercises 23 and 25 ■

Figure 11 The graphs of functions of the form y  a sin k1 x  b2 and y  a cos k1 x  b2 are
simply sine and cosine curves shifted horizontally by an amount 0 b 0 . They are shifted
to the right if b  0 or to the left if b  0. We summarize the properties of these func-
tions in the following box.

Shifted Sine and Cosine Curves

The phase shift of a sine curve is dis- The sine and cosine curves
cussed in Section 5.6.
y  a sin k1 x  b2 and y  a cos k1 x  b2 1 k  02
have amplitude 0 a 0 , period 2p/k, and horizontal shift b.
An appropriate interval on which to graph one complete period is
3b, b  1 2p/k2 4 .

p p
The graphs of y  sin a x  b and y  sin a x  b are shown in Figure 12.
3 6
y y
π π
y=ß!x- 3 @ y=ß!x+ 6 @
1 4π 1 11π
3 2π π 6

0 π π 7π x π 0 5π 2π x
3 3 _6 6
y=ß x y=ß x
Figure 12  Horizontal shifts of a sine
curve

Example 4  ■  A Horizontally Shifted Sine Curve

p
Find the amplitude, period, and horizontal shift of y  3 sin 2 a x  b , and graph
one complete period. 4

Solution    We get the amplitude, period, and horizontal shift from the form of the
function as follows:
2p 2p
amplitude  0 a 0  3 period   p
k 2
p
y  3 sin 2 a x  b
4
p
horizontal shift  1to the right2
4

Since the horizontal shift is p/4 and the period is p, one complete period occurs
on the interval
p p p 5p
c ,  pd  c , d
4 4 4 4
 5.3 Exercises

Concepts 25. y  10 sin 12 x 26. y  5 cos 14 x

1. If a function f is periodic with period p, then f 1 t  p2  27. y   13 cos 13 x 28. y  4 sin12x2
for every t. The trigonometric functions y  sin x 29. y  2 sin 2px 30. y  3 sin px
1
and y  cos x are periodic, with period and 31. y  1  cos px
2 32. y  2  cos 4px
amplitude   . Sketch a graph of each function on 33–46  ■  Horizontal Shifts  Find the amplitude, period, and hori-
the interval 30, 2p4 . zontal shift of the function, and graph one complete period.
p p
33. y  cos a x  b 34. y  2 sin a x  b
2 3
1 1
p p
35. y  2 sin a x  b 36. y  3 cos a x  b
6 4
0 2π 0 2π p 1 p
37. y  4 sin 2 a x  b 38. y  sin ax  b
2 2 4
p 2 p
39. y  5 cos a 3x  b 40. y  2 sin a x  b
4 3 6
2. To obtain the graph of y  5  sin x, we start with the
1 1 p p
graph of y  sin x, then shift it 5 units (upward/ 41. y   cos a 2x  b 42. y  1  cos a 3x  b
2 2 3 2
downward). To obtain the graph of y  cos x, we start with
43. y  3 cos pAx  12 B 44. y  3  2 sin 31x  12
the graph of y  cos x, then reflect it in the -axis.
p
3. The sine and cosine curves y  a sin kx and y  a cos kx, 45. y  sin1p  3x2 46. y  cos a  xb
2
k  0, have amplitude and period   . The
47–54  ■  Equations from a Graph  The graph of one complete
sine curve y  3 sin 2x has amplitude and period
period of a sine or cosine curve is given.
  . (a) Find the amplitude, period, and horizontal shift.
(b) Write an equation that represents the curve in the form
4. The sine curve y  a sin k1x  b2 has amplitude   ,
y  a sin k1x  b2 or y  a cos k1 x  b2
period   , and horizontal shift   . The sine
y
47. 48. y
curve y  4 sin 3Ax  p6 B has amplitude   , period
4
  , and horizontal shift   . 2

Skills
0 π 2π x 0 π 3π x
4 4
_2
5–18  ■  Graphing Sine and Cosine Functions  Graph the
function. _4

5. f 1 x2  2  sin x  
6. f 1 x2  2  cos x y
49. 50. y

7. f 1 x2  sin x  
8. f 1 x2  2  cos x 3 3
2
9. f 1 x2  2  sin x 10. f 1 x2  1  cos x
11. g1x2  3 cos x 12. g1x2  2 sin x 0π π x 0 2π 4π x
6 2
13. g1x2   12 sin x 14. g1x2   23 cos x
_ 23 _3
15. g1x2  3  3 cos x 16. g1x2  4  2 sin x
17. h1x2  0 cos x 0 18. h1x2  0 sin x 0 51. y 52. y

1 1
19–32  ■  Amplitude and Period  Find the amplitude and period 2 10
of the function, and sketch its graph.
19. y  cos 2x 20. y  sin 2x
_3
π 0 2π x _ π4
0 π x
3 4
21. y  sin 3x 22. y  cos 4px _ 21 _ 101
23. y  2 cos 3px 24. y  3 sin 6x
430  CHAPTER 5  ■  Trigonometric Functions: Unit Circle Approach

53. y 54. y 81–82  ■  Limiting Behavior of Trigonometric Functions  A func-

4 5 tion f is given.
(a) Is f even, odd, or neither?
(b) Find the x-intercepts of the graph of f.
(c) Graph f in an appropriate viewing rectangle.
1 0 1 1 x 0 x
_2 2 _ 41 1
4
3
4
(d) Describe the behavior of the function as x S  ` .
(e) Notice that f 1x2 is not defined when x  0. What happens as
_4 _5 x approaches 0?
1  cos x sin 4x
81. f 1x2  82. f 1x2 
55–62  ■  Graphing Trigonometric Functions  Determine an x 2x
appropriate viewing rectangle for each function, and use it to
draw the graph.
Applications
55. f 1 x2  cos 100x 56. f 1x2  3 sin 120x
83. Height of a Wave   As a wave passes by an offshore
57. f 1 x2  sin1x/402 58. f 1 x2  cos1x/802 piling, the height of the water is modeled by the function
59. y  tan 25x 60. y  csc 40x p
h1t2  3 cos a tb
2
61. y  sin 20x 62. y  !tan 10px 10
where h1 t2 is the height in feet above mean sea level at time
63–66  ■  Graphical Addition  Graph f, g, and f  g on a com- t seconds.
mon screen to illustrate graphical addition. (a) Find the period of the wave.
63. f 1 x2  x,  g1 x2  sin x (b) Find the wave height, that is, the vertical distance
between the trough and the crest of the wave.
64. f 1 x2  sin x,  g1 x2  sin 2x
65. f 1 x2  sin 3x,  g1x2  cos 12 x
crest
66. f 1 x2  0.5 sin 5x,  g1 x2  cos 2x

67–72  ■  Sine and Cosine Curves with Variable Amplitude  

trough
Graph the three functions on a common screen. How are the
graphs related?
67. y  x 2 ,  y  x 2 ,  y  x 2 sin x
84. Sound Vibrations   A tuning fork is struck, producing a pure
68. y  x,  y  x,  y  x cos x tone as its tines vibrate. The vibrations are modeled by the
69. y  !x,  y  !x,  y  !x sin 5px function

1 1 cos 2px √1 t2  0.7 sin1 880pt2

70. y  ,  y   ,  y 
1x 2
1x 2
1  x2 where √1t2 is the displacement of the tines in millimeters at
71. y  cos 3px,  y  cos 3px,  y  cos 3px cos 21px time t seconds.
(a) Find the period of the vibration.
72. y  sin 2px,  y  sin 2px,  y  sin 2px sin 10px
(b) Find the frequency of the vibration, that is, the number
of times the fork vibrates per second.
(c) Graph the function √.
Skills Plus
85. Blood Pressure   Each time your heart beats, your blood pres-
73–76  ■  Maxima and Minima  Find the maximum and mini-
sure first increases and then decreases as the heart rests
mum values of the function.
between beats. The maximum and minimum blood pressures
73. y  sin x  sin 2x are called the systolic and diastolic pressures, respectively.
74. y  x  2 sin x, 0  x  2p Your blood pressure reading is written as systolic/diastolic.
A reading of 120/80 is considered normal.
75. y  2 sin x  sin2 x   A certain person’s blood pressure is modeled by the ­function
cos x p1t2  115  25 sin1160pt2
7
6. y 
2  sin x where p1 t2 is the pressure in mmHg (millimeters of mer-
cury), at time t measured in minutes.
77–80  ■  Solving Trigonometric Equations Graphically  Find all (a) Find the period of p.
solutions of the equation that lie in the interval 30, p4. State each
(b) Find the number of heartbeats per minute.
answer rounded to two decimal places.
(c) Graph the function p.
77. cos x  0.4 78. tan x  2
(d) Find the blood pressure reading. How does this
79. csc x  3 80. cos x  x compare to normal blood pressure?

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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.