IFYF019 Foundation Mathematics

Foundation Mathematics
IFYF019

Syllabus
Topic 8. Trigonometric Functions and Their Graphs
 Degrees and radians; convert from radians to degrees and vice versa.
 Trigonometric ratios, trigonometric functions and inverse trigonometric
functions.
 Solve simple trigonometric equations (general formula is not required).
 Sketch the graphs of trigonometric functions sin(x), cos(x), tan(x) and their
transformations such as Asin(Bx+C)+D identifying amplitude, period and
phase/shift.
Recommended Reading
Understanding Pure Mathematics (Sadler & Thorning)
Lecturer

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Contents
Degrees and radians 3

Degrees and Radians 3

Special Angles 5

Introduction to Trigonometry 5

Trigonometric ratios 7

Trigonometric equations 9

Triangles 10

Graphs of trigonometric functions 11

Graph of y = sin x 11

Graph of y = cos x 12

Graph of y = tan x 12

Graph Transformations 14

Inverse trigonometric functions 15

Exercises Questions 17

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Degrees and radians

 Angles can be measured in degrees or radians
 In degrees a line rotating through a full angle and returning to its starting point
travels through 360º
 In radians a line rotating through a full angle and returning to its starting point
travels through 2πr (the circumference of a circle)
 360º= 2π rad
 1º = π/180º

Degrees and Radians

Radians to Degrees Degrees to Radians
 radians = 1 8 0  180

=  radians

180
 
1 radian = 1 degree =
 180

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Convert from radians to degrees:

5
6

Convert from degrees to radians

210º

As the angle increases the name changes:

Type of Angle Description

Acute Angle θ < 90°

Right Angle θ = 90° exactly

Obtuse Angle 90° < θ <180°

Straight Angle θ = 180° exactly

Reflex Angle θ >180°

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Special Angles

Supplementary Angles: Two Angles are Supplementary if they add up to 180 degrees.

Notice that together they make a But the angles don't have to
straight angle be together.

Complementary Angles: Two angles are Complementary when they add up to 90

degrees (i.e. a Right Angle)

In a right-angled triangle, the two non-right angles are

complementary, because in a triangle, the three angles add to
180°, and 90° has already been taken by the right angle.

Introduction to Trigonometry
Trigonometry is fundamentally about triangles. The triangle of most interest is the
right-angle triangle. The triangle of most interest is the right-angled triangle. Each
side of the triangle as a particular name:

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 Adjacent is adjacent (next to) to the angle θ

 Opposite is opposite the angle θ
 Hypotenuse is the longest side
 Trigonometry is good at find a missing side or angle in a triangle. The special
functions Sine, Cosine and Tangent help us! They are simply one side of a
triangle divided by another.

 Acute angles (θ < 90°)

 Sine Function: sinθ = Opposite /

Hypotenuse
 Cosine Function: cosθ = Adjacent
/ Hypotenuse
 Tangent Function: tanθ = Opposite
/ Adjacent SOHCAHTOA
 sinθ= cos (90˚- θ)
 cos θ = sin (90˚- θ)

 You should also be familiar with the signs of the trig. functions for various
values of θ. For this we can use the quadrant diagram.

The trigonometric ratios of these cannot be defined by a right angled triangle.

The sin, cos or tan of an obtuse angle is the sin, cos or tan of the supplement angle,
with the appropriate sign.

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Trigonometric ratios
The sine, cosine and tangent of 30˚, 45˚, and 60˚, can be expressed exactly in surd
form and are worth remembering.

The trigonometric ratios of

these cannot be defined by a
right angled triangle.

The sin, cos or tan of an

obtuse angle is the sin, cos or
tan of the supplement angle,
with the appropriate sign

Example 1
Write each of the following as trigonometric ratios of acute angles.
i) sin165˚
ii) cos125˚
iii) tan310˚
iv) cos(-130˚)

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Example 2
Show that
2
cos 30° + cos 60°sin30°=1

Example 3
12
Given that sin θ= and that θ is obtuse, find cosθ
13

Example 4

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1
Given that cosθ = - and that θ is reflex find tanθ
4

Trigonometric equations
The cast diagram shows you the quadrants in which the named trig functions are
positive.

There are two important things to do when solving trig equations:

 Find one solution (an angle that satisfies the equation).
 Find all the other solutions (the other angles that satisfy the equation and are
within the range stated in the question).

Note. Make sure your calculator is set to the correct mode for the question. (i.e.
Degrees or radians)
Example
Solve the following trig equations giving angles in the range 0 ≤ x < 360° to 1
decimal place.
i) sin x= -0.3

ii) cos x=0.6

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Triangles

The area of a triangle can be calculated by using one of the following formulae

1. ½ base x perpendicular height

2.
3. ½ absinC (for 2 sides and an included angle)

4. Heron’s formula:
(for 3 sides only)
5.
Where: i.e. the perimeter/2

Example 5

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Calculate the area of these triangles.

Graphs of trigonometric functions

Trigonometric graphs (S &T: Pg. 101-114)
1. Graph Plotting: If you are asked to plot the graph, you will need to use your
calculator to generate some y values. For example, if you are asked to plot the
graph of f(x) = sinx for 0° to 360°, use your calculator to find sin0°, sin10°, sin20°, ....,
sin360°, and then plot these values on the graph paper.

2. Graph Sketching: Plotting a trigonometric graph is time consuming, so it is more

likely that you will be asked to sketch the graph. Even if you think you remember
what the graph looks like, you should use your calculator to check key values e.g.
sin0° = 0 and cos0° = 1, so you have the starting points of the graphs. Note tan90°
has no value (your calculator will display an error message), so you know that the
graph cannot cross the line x = 90°.

Graph of y = sin x

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Plot of Sine x: The Sine Function has an up-down curve (which repeats every
2π radians, or 360°). It starts at 0 and reaches its maximum (Amplitude) of 1 at π/2
radians (90°) and minimum value of -1 at 3π/2 radians (270°) .

Graph of y = cos x

Plot of Cosine x: Cosine is just like sine, but it starts at 1 (at 0°) and reaches its minimum
value of -1 at π radians (180°) and maximum value of 1 at 2π radians (360°).

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Graph of y = tan x

Plot of the Tangent x: It has a completely different shape. It crosses through 0 and
repeats every π radians, or 180°. At π/2 radians (and -π/2, 3π/2, etc) the function is
officially undefined because it goes to positive or negative Infinity.

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Example 1

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The Reciprocal Trigonometric Functions

The reciprocal of the three main trig functions have their own names and are
sometimes referred to as the minor trig ratios.

1 1 1
= csc θ = sec θ = cot θ
sin θ cos θ tan θ

The names given above are abbreviations of cosecant, secant and cotangent
respectively.

Graph Transformations
(S&T Pg., 284 )

y=f(x)+a Translation ‘a’ units parallel to y-axis

y=f(x+a) Translation ‘-a’ units parallel to x-axis
y=af(x) Stretch parallel to y-axis by a scale factor of ‘a’
y=f(ax) Stretch parallel to x-axis by a scale factor of 1/’a’
y=f(-x) Reflection in y-axis
y=-f(x) Reflection in x-axis

Example

f(x) = Af(Bx– C) + D, where f(x) is one of the basic trig functions such as sin, we have:
• Amplitude= |A| (i.e. 1*A as Amplitude of sin x=1)
• Period = |2π/B|
• Horizontal or phase shift = C/B
• Vertical shift = D

Example

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Inverse trigonometric functions

The functions sinx, cosx & tanx are many-to-one functions and therefore have no
inverse. However an inverse can be found by restricting the domain. If we restrict
the domains of these functions, they will become one-to-one functions:

sin function to -90≤ θ≤90 (–π/2 ≤ θ≤ π/2)

cos function to 0≤ θ≤180 (0 ≤ θ≤ π)
tan function to -90≤ θ≤90 (–π/2 ≤ θ≤ π/2)

We can now consider the inverse functions, written as sin-1x, cos-1x and tan-1x (or
arcsinx, arccosx and arctanx).

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Remember that an inverse function can only

be found if the original function is one-to-
one.

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Exercises Questions
Sadler and Thorning
Ex E
Ex 4B
Ex4C

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