Pre-Calculus Notes in Trigonometry

Sir Victor A. Tondo Jr.

Week 1
The UNIT Circle

UNIT Circle ang tawag dito kasi 1 unit ang radius ng circle, with the center at (0, 0). Dahil dito, ang
equation ng unit circle ay x2 + y2 = 1.

Converting DEGREE measures to RADIAN and vice-versa

Always remember that a circle is 360 o, and that the circumference of a circle is given by 2 π r, and that a
semicircle is 180o with an arc length of π r. You may use this to convert from degree to radian and vice-
versa.
360o = 2 π r or 180o = π r
Examples:
Convert 120o to radian measure.
πr 120 π r 2 π r 2
120o x = = ∨ π r  r is read as radian. You may also write rad instead of r for radian.
180° 180 3 3
Note: Pag degree ang ico-convert mo, degree dapat ang denominator.
Convert 135o to radian measure.
πr 135 π r 3 π r 3
135o x = = ∨ πr
180° 180 4 4
5
Convert π rad to degrees measure.
6
5 180° 5
πr x = x 180o = 150o  Pag radian ang ico-convert mo, radian dapat ang denominator.
6 πr 6
13
Convert π rad to degrees measure.
6
13 180° 13
πr x = x 180o = 390o  Pag radian ang ico-convert mo, radian dapat ang denominator.
6 πr 6

Angles in Standard Position

An angle is in Standard Position if and only if nasa +x-axis

yung initial side (kung saan nagsisimula yung arrow na
indicator natin ng opening niya), and the vertex is at the
point of origin.
Ginagamit ang standard position para may universal na
pagkakaintindihan kapag nag-uusap tungkol sa angles sa
trigonometry.
Coterminal Angles
Notice that angle A is opened 125o, positive. Pag positive
ang angle natin in standard position, it means the angle is
opened counterclockwise.
Tapos tignan mo yung angle B. Angle B is opened 235o
pero negative ang measure niya. Sa standard position, pag
negative ang angle natin, it means that the angle is opened
clockwise.
Lastly, notice how angle A and angle B have the same
terminal side. Pag pareho ng terminal side ang dalawang
angles natin, sila ay tinatawag na COTERMINAL angles.
Para makuha ang coterminal angles, simply add or
subtract multiples of 360o.
Sa example natin, 125 – 360 = -235, which proves that
angle B is coterminal with angle A.
Maliban sa -235o, pwede rin ang 485o, 845o, at -595o. Try to
name other angle measures that would be coterminal with
125o.

Week 2
The Circular Functions

Pansinin sa image (kunyare naka-zoom in), angle A is in

standard position. Actually, ang circular functions natin
ay may meaning. Ang circular functions natin ay ratio ng
haba ng opposite, adjacent, at hypotenuse (o radius kung
nasa circle).

SINE (sin) function is the ratio of the opposite side versus

the hypotenuse.
COSINE (cos) function is the ratio of the adjacent side
versus the hypotenuse.
TANGENT (tan) function is the ratio of the opposite side
versus the adjacent side.
COSECANT (csc) function is the ratio of the hypotenuse versus the opposite side.
SECANT (sec) function is the ratio of the hypotenuse versus the adjacent side.
COTANGENT (cot) function is the ratio of the adjacent side versus the opposite side.

Para madaling maalala ang trigonometric ratios, pwede nating gamitin ang mnemonic na SohCahToa at
ChoShaCao.
SohCahToa ChoShaCao
Soh: sin = opp/hyp Cho: csc = hyp/opp
Cah: cos = adj/hyp Sha: sec = hyp/adj
Toa: tan = opp/adj Cao: cot = adj/opp
Reference Angles
Reference angles are angles in QI that yield the same ratio for sine, cosine, and tangent, with the
exception of the positive/negative sign.
For example, sin 60o is the same as sin 120o, as well as 240o and 300o, excluding the positive/negative
sign. This means that the reference angle for 120o, 240o, and 300o is 60o.

The rule for getting the reference angle is based on the quadrant where the angle lies.
QI: The angle itself is the reference angle. 60 is a reference angle.
QII: The reference angle is 180 – θ . Ex.: 180 – 120 = 60
QIII: The reference angle is θ−180. Ex.: 240 – 180 = 60
QIV: The reference angle is 360−θ. Ex.: 360 – 300 = 60

Examples:
129o: 129o is in QII. Therefore, the reference angle is 180 – 129 = 51o.
198o: 198o is in QIII. Therefore, the reference angle is 198 – 180 = 18o.
298o: 129o is in QIV. Therefore, the reference angle is 360 – 298 = 62o.
49o: 49o is in QI. Therefore, 49o is a reference angle itself.
323o: 323o is in QIV. Therefore, the reference angle is 360 – 323 = 37o.
212o: 212o is in QIII. Therefore, the reference angle is 212 – 180 = 32o.
137o: 137o is in QII. Therefore, the reference angle is 180 – 137 = 43o.
55o: 55o is in QI. Therefore, 55o is a reference angle itself.

Week 4: Using the Trigonometric Functions

Example #1

To solve for x in the figure, dapat alamin muna natin kung aling
trigonometric function ang gagamitin at kung ano ang mga given sides,
relative to the given angle.

Since katapat ng angle natin yung 24 cm na side, then ito yung

magiging opposite. Tapos, dahil nasa tapat ng right angle sa figure
yung x, then ito yung hypotenuse. Pwede na tayo mag-recall
ngayon ng trigonometric function. Aling trigonometric function ba
opp
ang ratio ng opposite at hypotenuse? Sine, kasi sine A = .
hyp
opp
sine A =
hyp
24
sin 30 =  30o yung angle, 24 yung length ng opposite side, tapos x yung hypotenuse
x
24
0.5 =  sin 30 = 0.5. Tapos cross-multiply.
x
0.5x = 24
 24
x= = 48 .: 48 cm yung x or yung length ng hypotenuse.
0.5
Example #2

In the figure, 10 cm yung katabi or adjacent

side ng given angle natin, tapos yung y
naman ay ang katapat or opposite side. Ang
function na related sa adjacent at sa opposite
ay ang tangent.

opp
tangent A =
adj
y
tan 50 =  50o yung angle, y yung opposite side, tapos 10 yung adjacent
10
y
1.1917 =  tan 50 = 1.1917
10
1.1917(10) = y
11.917 = y .: 11.917 cm yung y, or yung length ng opposite side.

Example #3

A sniper aims at a target with a 25o angle of depression. If

the target is 30 meters from the sniper, find the horizontal
distance of the target from the sniper.

Dito sa problem natin, let z = the horizontal distance of the

target from the sniper. Tapos yung 30 meters na distance
ng sniper from the target is the hypotenuse.
Ang trigonometric function na gumagamit ng adjacent at hypotenuse ay ang cosine function.
adj
cosine A =
hyp
z
cos 25 =  25o yung angle, z yung adjacent side, tapos 30 yung hypotenuse
30
z
0.9063 =  cost 25 = 0.9063
30
0.9063 (30) = z
27.189 = z .: 27.189 cm yung z, or yung horizontal distance of the target from the sniper
Practice: Kumpletuhin ang table.
Angle Opposite Adjacent Hypotenuse Trigonometric Equation Answer
10
30o 10 cm A tan 30 = A = 10√ 3 cm
A
40o 20 cm B B = _________
45o C 25 cm C = _________
50o D 30 cm D = _________
60o 40 cm E E = _________
70o F 50 cm F = _________
Answers:
Cos 40 = 20/B B = 26.1081 cm
Sin 45 = C/25 C = 17.6777 cm
Cos 50 = D/30 D = 19.2836 cm
Tan 60 = 40/E E = 23.0940 cm
Sin 70 = F/50 F = 46.9846 cm

The CAST Mnemonic

The CAST mnemonic tells us which trigonometric functions are positive
for each quadrant.

Cofunctions
Cofunctions are basically functions that have the same name pero nilagyan lang ng CO.
SINE and COSINE are cofunctions.
TANGENT and COTANGENT are cofunctions.
SECANT and COSECANT are cofunctions.

Ang cofunctions ay ginagamit para sa complementary angles.

Example: 20 and 70 are complementary. Therefore, sine 20 = cosine 70, or cosine 20 = sine 70.
Also, tangent 20 = cotangent 70, or cotangent 20 = tangent 70.
Lastly, secant 20 = cosecant 70, or cosecant 20 = secant 70.

sin 20 = cos 70  cos 20 = sin 70

sec 20 = csc 70  csc 20 = sec 70
tan 20 = cot 70  cot 20 = tan 70
Trigonometric Identities

Practice
Using the above identities, simplify the following:
Week 10: Locating Points in the Polar Coordinate System
Nasanay tayo na pag sinabing Coordinate System, ang unang naiisip natin ay ang Cartesian Plane,
kung saan may point tayo na (x, y) tapos may apat na quadrants. Pero may isa pang coordinate system
and that is the Polar Coordinate System. The Polar Coordinate System is similar to the Cartesian
Coordinate System. Ang pinagkaiba lang, instead of ordered pair x and y, we use a length and an angle
measure (r, θ ). This is mainly due to the way we use the polar coordinate system.
Kaya siya tinawag na polar coordinate system ay dahil sa paggamit ng “pole”, which is basically the
reference point. Ang reference point ay yung point of origin, which is (0, 0) sa Cartesian Plane. Tapos,
meron din tayong “polar axis”, which is yung line segment mula sa pole, na ginagamit naman natin as
reference direction. Ito naman yung angle natin in standard position.
So ayun, may two parts nga ang Polar Coordinate System: isang length, at isang angle measure.
Para madali nating makuha ang Polar coordinates ng isang ordered pair (Cartesian), kukunin muna natin
ang distance ng point natin na (x, y) from the point of origin. Ibig sabihin, ang length (r) nito ay r =√ x 2 + y 2
.
Sa angle measure naman, gagawin lang nating terminal side yung line formed by the point (x, y)
and the point of origin, tapos ang initial side ay yung positive x-axis.
Hints: Pwede rin nating sabihin na ang (x, y) ay mao-obtain using x = r cos θ and y = r sin θ .
Pwede rin nating kunin ang θ as tan-1 y/x.

Gamitin nating example itong A (3, 4).

r = √ 32 +4 2
r=5

Tapos, we can now solve for θ :

θ = tan y/x
-1

θ = tan 4/3
-1

θ=¿ 53.13
o

Therefore, (3, 4) in Cartesian is the same as

(5, 53.13o) in Polar.
 Let’s try the point (-3, 4). Using the formula, we will get
r = 5 pa rin. Kaso, when it comes to θ , dun na
magkakaproblema.
4
Pag in-input natin sa calculator yung tan-1 , ang lalabas
−3
na value ng θ ay -53.13o. Kaso, nasa QII ang angle natin so
hindi pwedeng θ=¿ -53.13o.
Dun papasok ang inaral natin na reference angles.
Pag ang point natin ay nasa QII, QIII, or QIV, kailangan
natin gamitin ang reference angles. Sa example na ito, since
ang θ ay may reference angle na 53.13o, at nasa QII ang
point natin, then ang θ natin ay 180 – 53.13 = 126.87o.

So ang (-3, 4) sa Cartesian plane ay may Polar coordinates

na (5, 126.87o).

Practice: Convert to Polar Coordinates

(7, 24)
(-7, 24)
(-7, -24)
(7, -24)
(-6, 8)
(-6, -8)
(6, 8)
(6, -8)

Answers:
(25, 73.74o)
(25, 106.26o)
(25, 253.74o)
(25, 286.26o)
(10, 126.87o)
(10, 233.13o)
(10, 53.13o)
(10, 306.87o)
Graphs of the six trigonometric functions