Trigonometry

An Overview of
Important Topics

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 Trigonometry – An Overview of Important Topics
So I hear you’re going to take a Calculus course? Good idea to brush up on your
Trigonometry!!

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 triangle (trigonon) and measure (metron).
Trigonometry (Trig) is an intricate piece of other branches of mathematics such
as, Geometry, Algebra, and Calculus.

In this tutorial we will go over the following topics.

• Understand how angles are measured

o Degrees
o Radians
o Unit circle
o Practice
▪ Solutions
• Use trig functions to find information about right triangles
o Definition of trig ratios and functions
o Find the value of trig functions given an angle measure
o Find a missing side length given an angle measure
o Find an angle measure using trig functions
o Practice
▪ Solutions

Understand key features of graphs of trig functions

o Graph of the sine function
o Graph of the cosine function
o Key features of the sine and cosine function
o Graph of the tangent function
o Key features of the tangent function
o Practice

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UNDERSTAND HOW ANGLES ARE MEASURED
Since Trigonometry focuses on relationships of sides and angles of a triangle, let’s
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 it’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 counterclockwise
direction and a negative angle is made by a rotation in the clockwise direction.

Angles can be measured two ways:

1. Degrees
2. Radians

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Degrees
A circle is comprised of 360°, which is called one revolution

Degrees are used primarily to describe the size of an angle.

The real mathematician is the radian, since most computations are done in radians.

Radians
1 revolution measured in radians is 2π, where π is the constant approximately
3.14.

How can we convert between the two you ask?

Easy, since 360° = 2π radians (1 revolution)

Then, 180° = π radians
𝜋
So that means that 1° = radians
180

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 180
An 𝜋
degrees = 1 radian
d
Example 1

Convert 60° into radians

𝜋 𝜋 60𝜋 𝜋
60 ⋅ (1 degree) = 60 ⋅ = = radian
180 180 180 3

Example 2

Convert (-45°) into radians

𝜋 −45𝜋 𝜋
-45 ⋅ = =− radian
180 180 4

Example
3
3𝜋
Convert radian into degrees
2
3𝜋 180 3𝜋 180 540𝜋
⋅ (1 radian) = ⋅ = = 270°
2 𝜋 2 𝜋 2𝜋

Example
4
7𝜋
Convert − radian into degrees
3
7𝜋 180 1260
− ⋅ = = 420°
3 𝜋 3

Before we move on to the next section, let’s take a look at the Unit Circle.

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Unit Circle

The Unit Circle is a circle that is centered at the origin and always has a radius of
1. The unit circle will be helpful to us later when we define the trigonometric
ratios. You may remember from Algebra 2 that the equation of the Unit Circle is
𝑥² + 𝑦² = 1.

Need more help? Click below for a Khan Academy video

Khan Academy video 1

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Practice Problems

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TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS

Definitions of trig ratios and functions

In Trigonometry there are six trigonometric ratios that relate the angle measures
of a right triangle to the length of its sides. (Remember a right triangle contains a
90° angle)

A right triangle can be formed from an initial side x and a terminal side r, where r
is the radius and hypotenuse of the right triangle. (see figure below) The
Pythagorean Theorem tells us that x² + y² = r², therefore r = √𝑥² + 𝑦². 𝜃 (theta) is
used to label a non-right angle. The six trigonometric functions can be used to
find the ratio of the side lengths. The six functions are sine (sin), cosine (cos),
tangent (tan), cosecant (csc), secant (sec), and cotangent (cot). Below you will see
the ratios formed by these functions.

𝑦
sin 𝜃 = , also referred to as 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒
𝑟 ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒

𝑥
cos 𝜃 = , also referred to as 𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒
𝑟 ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒

𝑦
tan 𝜃 = , also referred to as 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒
𝑥 𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒

These three functions have 3 reciprocal functions

𝑟
csc 𝜃 = , which is the reciprocal of sin 𝜃
𝑦

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 𝑟
sec 𝜃 = ,which is the reciprocal of cos 𝜃
𝑥
𝑥
cot 𝜃 = , which is the reciprocal of tan 𝜃
𝑦

You may recall a little something called SOH-CAH-TOA to help your remember the
functions!

SOH… Sine = opposite/hypotenuse

…CAH… Cosine = adjacent/hypotenuse

…TOA Tangent = opposite/adjacent

Example: Find the values of the trigonometric ratios of angle 𝜃

Before we can find the values of the six trig ratios, we need to find the length of
the missing side. Any ideas? Good call, we can use r = √𝑥² + 𝑦² (from the
Pythagorean Theorem)

r = √5² + 12² = √25 + 144 = √169 = 13

Now we can find the values of the six trig functions

𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 12 ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑡𝑜𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒 13
sin θ = = csc θ = =
ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑡𝑜𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒 13 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 12
𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 5 ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒 13
cos θ = = sec θ = =
ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒 13 𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 5
𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 12 𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 5
tan θ = = cot θ = =
𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 5 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 12

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Example 5

a) Use the triangle below to find the six trig ratios

First use Pythagorean Theorem to find the hypotenuse

a² + b² = c², where a and b are legs of the right triangle and c is the
hypotenuse 𝑜 8 4 1 5
sin 𝜃 = = = csc 𝜃 = =
ℎ 10 5 sin 𝜃 4
6² + 8² = 𝑐²
𝑎 6 3 1 5
cos 𝜃 = = = sec 𝜃 = =
36 + 64 = 𝑐² ℎ 10 5 cos 𝜃 3
𝑜 8 4 1 3
100 = 𝑐² tan 𝜃 = = = cot 𝜃 = =
𝑎 6 3 tan 𝜃 4

√100 = √𝑐²

10 = 𝑐

Example 6

Use the triangle below to find the six trig ratios

2 5
1² + 𝑏² = (√5 )² sin 𝜃 = =
2√5 csc 𝜃 = √
√5 5 2
1 + 𝑏² = 5
1 √5
cos 𝜃 = = √5 sec 𝜃 = = √5
√5 5 1
𝑏² = 4
2 1
tan 𝜃 = =2 cot 𝜃 =
𝑏 = 2 1 2

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Find the value of trig functions given an angle measure
Suppose you know the value of 𝜃 is 45°, how can this help you find the values of
the six trigonometric functions?

First way: You can familiarize yourself with the unit circle we talked about.

An ordered pair along the unit circle (x, y) can also be known as (cos 𝜃, sin 𝜃),
since the r value on the unit circle is always 1. So to find the trig function values
2 2
for 45° you can look on the unit circle and easily see that sin 45° = √ , cos 45° = √
2 2

With that information we can easily find the values of the reciprocal functions
2 2√ 2
csc 45° = = = √2 , sec 45° = √2
√2 2

We can also find the tangent and cotangent function values using the quotient
identities

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 √2
sin 45°
tan 45° = = 2
=1
cos 45° √2
2

cot 45° = 1

Example 7
𝜋 1
Find sec (4 ) = 𝜋 = 1 = √2
√2
cos(4)
2

Example 8
1
𝜋
Find tan ( ) = 2
= √3
6 √3 3
2

Example 9
−1 √3
Find cot 240° = 2 =
−√3 3
2

Using this method limits us to finding trig function values for angles that are
accessible on the unit circle, plus who wants to memorize it!!!
Second Way: If you are given a problem that has an angle measure of 45°, 30°, or
60°, you are in luck! These angle measures belong to special triangles.

If you remember these special triangles you can easily find the ratios for all the
trig functions.

Below are the two special right triangles and their side length ratios

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How do we use these special right triangles to find the trig ratios?

If the θ you are given has one of these angle measures it’s easy!

Example 10 Example 11 Example 12

Find sin 30° Find cos 45° Find tan 60°

1 2 √3
sin 30° = cos 45° = √ tan 60° = = √3
2 2 1

Third way: This is not only the easiest way, but also this way you can find trig
values for angle measures that are less common. You can use your TI Graphing
calculator.

First make sure your TI Graphing calculator is set to degrees by pressing mode

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Next choose which trig function you need

After you choose which function you need type in your angle measure

Example 13 Example 14 Example 15

cos 55° ≈ 0.5736 tan 0° = 0 sin 30° = 0.5

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Find a missing side length given an angle measure
Suppose you are given an angle measure 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
lengths of a right triangle.

Example 16
First we know that sin 𝜃 = 𝑥, therefore sin 30 =
𝑜

ℎ 5

Next we solve for x, 5 ⋅ sin 30 = 𝑥

Use your TI calculator to compute 5 ⋅ sin 30,

And you find out 𝑥 = 2.5

Let’s see another example,

Example 17 We are given information about the opposite and adjacent

sides of the triangle, so we will use tan
16
tan 52 =
𝑥
16
𝑥=
tan 52
𝑥 ≈ 12.5

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Find an angle measure using trig functions

Wait a minute, what happens if you have the trig ratio, but you are asked to find
the angles measure? Grab your TI Graphing calculator and notice that above the
sin, cos, and tan buttons, there is 𝑠𝑖𝑛−1, 𝑐𝑜𝑠−1, 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1. These are your inverse
trigonometric functions, also known as arcsine, arccosine, and arctangent. If you
use these buttons in conjunction with your trig ratio, you will get the angle
measure for 𝜃!

Let’s see some examples of this.

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Example 18 We know that tan 𝜃 =
6

So to find the value of θ, press 2nd tan on your calculator

and then type in (8/6)
8
𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 ( ) ≈ 53.13
6

𝜃 ≈ 53.13°

How about another

Example 19
We are given information about the adjacent side and the
hypotenuse, so we will use the cosine function
1
cos 𝜃 =
2
1
𝑐𝑜𝑠−1 ( ) = 60
2

𝜃 = 60°

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Practice Problems

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