Circular Functions

and its
Domain and Range
Week 3
Subject: Pre-Calculus
Topic: Circular Functions
Week: Week 3-5

Learning Outcomes:

The learner…
 illustrate the different circular functions
 uses reference angles to find exact values of circular functions
 illustrate the domain and range of the different circular functions
 graph the six circular functions (a) amplitude, (b) period, and (c) phase shift
 solve situational problems involving circular functions

Definitions:
1. Circular function – the function that define the coordinate of a point on a unit of circle
as a function of an angle.
2. Amplitude – is the distance between the centre line and one of the maximum points.
3. Periodic Function – a function repeats its values in a regular pattern.
4. Period of a function – is the length that it takes for the curve to start repeating itself
5. Phase Shift - is a shift when the graph of the sine function and cosine function is shifted
left or right from their usual position
6. Sine curve – a “snake” curve
7. Cosine curve – a ”cup” curve
Discussions:
Circular Function

The functions that define the coordinates of a point on a unit circle as a function of an
angle. The circle below is drawn in a coordinate system where the circle's center is at the origin
and has a radius of 1. This circle is known as a unit circle.
What are the six circular functions?
There are six functions of an angle commonly used in trigonometry. Their names and
abbreviations are sine (sin), cosine (cos), tangent (tan), cotangent (cot), secant (sec), and cosecant
(csc).
The other circular functions (the tangent, cotangent, secant, and cosecant) can be defined
in terms of the sine and cosine.
How do you solve circular functions?
This circle is known as a unit circle. The cosine of the angle would be the x-coordinate and
the sine of the angle would be the y-coordinate. Since both the coordinates are defined by using a
unit circle, they are often called circular functions.
What is the importance of circular function?
Circular functions allow the basic functions learned in right angle trigonometry to be
extended to angles of any size, using a unit circle. By doing this, every angle from 0 degrees to
360 degrees is paired with a unique ordered pair (x,y) in the coordinate plane.

Example of circular function:

√𝟖 𝟏
The point P ( 𝟑 , 𝟑 )is on the unit circle. The length of the arc from point A(1,0) to point P in
s units. What are the values of six circular functions of s?

𝟏 √𝟖
sin s = 𝟑 cos s = 𝟑
𝟏
√𝟖 𝟏 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐬 √𝟐
P ( 𝟑 ,𝟑 ) tan s = = 𝟑
√𝟖
=
𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝐬 𝟒
𝟑

√𝟖
𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝐬 𝟑
cot s = = 𝟏 = √𝟖
𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐬
𝟑

A (1,0) 𝟏 𝟏 𝟑
sec s = = √𝟖
=
𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝐬 √𝟖
𝟑

𝟏 𝟏
csc s = = 𝟏 =3
𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐬
𝟑
The circle below is drawn in a coordinate system where the circle's center is at the origin and has
a radius of 1. This circle is known as a unit circle.

Let’s try this!

1. Solve the equation sin θ = 0.5 with the unit circle.
2. Solve the given equation using the unit circle cos θ = -1

Domain and Range of Circular Functions

Circular functions are defined such that their domains are sets of numbers that correspond
to the measures (in radian units) of the angles of analogous trigonometric functions. The ranges of
these circular functions, like their analogous trigonometric functions, are sets of real numbers.
These functions are called circular functions because radian measures of angles are determined by
the lengths of arcs of circles. In particular, trigonometric functions defined using the unit circle
lead directly to these circular functions.

Begin with the unit circle x 2 + y 2 = 1 shown in Figure 1. Point A (1,0) is located at the
intersection of the unit circle and the x‐axis. Let q be any real number. Start at point A and measure
| q| units along the unit circle in a counter-clockwise direction if q > 0 and in a clockwise direction
if q < 0, ending up at point P( x, y). Define the sine and cosine of q as the coordinates of point P.
The other circular functions (the tangent, cotangent, secant, and cosecant) can be defined in terms
of the sine and cosine.

Figure 1

Sin q and cos q exist for each real number q because (cos q, sin q) are the coordinates of
point P located on the unit circle, that corresponds to an arc length of | q |. Because this arc length
can be positive (counter-clockwise) or negative (clockwise), the domain of each of these circular
functions is the set of real numbers. The range is more restricted. The cosine and sine are the
abscissa and ordinate of a point that moves around the unit circle, and they vary between −1 and
1. Therefore, the range of each of these functions is a set of real numbers z such that −1 ≤ z ≤ 1
(see Figure 2).

Figure 2
 Function y=sin(x) is defined as the ordinate (Y -coordinate) of a point on a unit circle that
corresponds to an angle of x radians. Therefore, the domain of this function is all real numbers
from −∞ to +∞ . The range is from −1 to +1 since this is an ordinate of a point on a unit circle.

Function Domain Range

f(x) = sin ( x ) (-∞ , + ∞) [-1 , 1]
f(x) = cos ( x ) (-∞ , + ∞) [-1 , 1]
f(x) = tan ( x ) All real numbers except π/2 + n*π (-in , + ∞)
f(x) = sec ( x ) All real numbers except π/2 + n*π (-∞ , -1] U [1 , + ∞)
f(x) = csc ( x ) All real numbers except n*π (-∞ , -1] U [1 , + ∞)