1

Trigonometric Functions of Generalized Angles

Definition of the six trigonometric ratios for generalized angles

So far we have defined sin, cos, tan and their inverses only for acute angles in a right triangle. We now
generalize the definitions of these trigonometric ratios for any angle. Consider an angle in standard position and
a point P with coordinates (x, y) at a distance r from the origin on the terminal side of this angle (see Figure 1).



The six trigonometric ratios for angle are defined as follows:

cos =
x
r
sin =
y
r
tan =
y
x
if 0 x =
sec =
r
x
if 0 x = csc =
r
y
if 0 y = cot =
x
y
if 0 y =

Ex 1. The point (2, 3) is on the terminal side of an angle in standard position. Find the six trigonometric ratios
for angle .

Solution. First we find the distance r between the point (2, 3) and the origin. By the Distance Theorem the
distance between two points with coordinates
1 1
( , ) x y and
2 2
( , ) x y is
2 2
1 2 1 2
( ) ( ) d x x y y = + , so the distance r
between the point (2, 3) and (0, 0) is
2 2
( 2 0) (3 0) r = + 13 = . Now we have
cos =
2
13
x
r

= sin =
3
13
y
r
= tan =
3
2
y
x
= sec =
13
2

csc =
13
3
cot =
2
3


Ex 2. The point (0,3) is on the terminal side of an angle in standard position. Find the six trigonometric ratios
for angle .

Solution. Finding distance r is easy here: r = 3. Now we have
cos =
0
0
3
x
r
= = sin =
3
1
3
y
r

= = tan =
3
0
y
undef i ned
x

= =
sec =
3
0
undef i ned = csc =
3
1
3
=

cot =
0
0
3
=

Ex 1 and Ex 2 show that the values of the six trigonometric functions for generalized angles can be positive,
negative, zero or undefined.
r
x
y
P (x, y)
terminal side
of angle
Figure 1

2

The definition of these functions also makes it immediately clear that

the values of the six trigonometric functions are the same for all coterminal angles

So sin() = sin( 2k) for k = 0, 1, 2, 3... cos() = cos( 2k) for k = 0, 1, 2, 3... tan() = tan( 2k) for k =
0, 1, 2, 3... and the same for the three remaining trigonometric functions.

Agreement of this definition with right-triangle trigonometric ratios

The definition of the trigonometric ratios given above is equivalent to the right-triangle definition of these ratios
for acute angles (this means 0 < < /2). The proof is shown in Figure 2.



The unit circle

The point P on the terminal side of an angle can be chosen at any distance r from the origin to define the six
trigonometric functions of , but its particularly convenient to choose P at a distance 1 r = from the origin. This
places P on a circle of radius 1 centered at the origin called the unit circle (see Figure 3).



If point P is the point of intersection of the terminal side of an angle in standard position with the unit circle, the
distance r from P to the origin is always 1 r = and the definitions of the six trigonometric ratios become

cos =
1
x
x = sin =
1
y
y = tan =
y
x
if 0 x =
sec =
1
x
if 0 x = csc =
1
y
if 0 y = cot =
x
y
if 0 y =
1
1
1
x
y
P(x, y)
Figure 3
1
the unit circle
terminal side
of angle
P(x, y)

sin()
opposite y
hypotenuse r
= =

cos()
adjacent x
hypotenuse r
= =

tan()
opposite y
adjacent x
= =

r
x
y
Figure 2

3

With point P on the unit circle we can visualize the values of cos and sin on the x-axis and y-axis (see Figure 4).



Figure 4 shows that as angle changes the values of cos stay between 1 and 1 on the x-axis, and the values of
sin stay between 1 and 1 on the y-axis. This gives us the range of the sine and cosine functions (recall that if
( ) y f x = the range of f is the set of all possible ( ) f x values).


For all angles , 1 s sin s 1 and 1 s cos s 1


With the unit circle its easy to see that if the terminal side of angle is in Quadrant I, both sin and cos are
positive quantities. If the terminal side of angle is in Quadrant II, sin is positive and cos is negative. If the
terminal side of angle is in Quadrant III, both sin and cos are negative quantities. And if the terminal side of
angle is in Quadrant IV, sin is negative and cos is positive. This is shown in Figure 5, along with the range of
the sine and cosine functions.



Tan
If tan = y/x and sin = y/r and cos = x/r, then
si n /
t an
cos /
y r y
x r x
= = = (provided that cos 0 = ).
si n
t an
cos
= if cos 0 =
1
1
1
1
x
y
this number is sin
Figure 4
this number is cos
P(x, y)
terminal side
of angle
1
1
-1
-1
x
1 s sin s 1
Figure 5
1 s cos s 1
II
sin > 0
cos < 0
I
sin > 0
cos > 0
y
IV
sin < 0
cos > 0
III
sin < 0
cos < 0

4

The unit circle can be used to visualize tan for any angle in standard position if / 2 k t t = for k = 0,1,2,3.
To do this, we draw a copy of the y-axis through the point (1, 0) on the x-axis as shown in Figure 6. The line that
contains the terminal side of any angle / 2 k t t = for k = 0,1,2,3 in standard position intersects this copy of
the y-axis. The number that corresponds to this point of intersection is tan (see Figure 6).

Figure 6


A proof is given in Figure 7.













Being able to visualize tan as shown in Figure 6 allows us to see that the values of tan are not bounded: tan can
be any real number between and + . Figure 8 pictures the ranges of the cosine, sine, and tangent functions.


1
1
1
x
y

y
A
O B
tan =
OPP AB AB
AB
ADJ OB 1
= = =
length AB is the number at point A on
the y number line.
Figure 7
1
1
1
1
x
y
this vertical number line
is a copy of the y-axis
this number
is tan
y
1
1
1
1
x
y
copy of
the y-axis
this number
is tan
y
< tan() <

1 cos() 1

1 sin() 1

Figure 8
x
y
copy of the y-axis
y

5

Finding values of sin, cos, and tan using the unit circle

The unit circle allows us to quickly find various values of the basic trigonometric ratios. In each diagram below,
point P is the point of intersection of the unit circle and the terminal side of the given angle in standard position,
with the corresponding values of sin, cos, and tan given.







Ex 1. Find sin(), cos() and tan().
Answer. sin() = 0; cos() = 1; tan() = 0

Ex 2. Find sin(/2), cos(/2) and tan(/2).
Answer. sin(/2) = 1; cos(/2) = 0; tan(/2) is
undefined.

Ex 3. Find sin(3/2), cos(3/2) and tan(3/2).
Answer. sin(3/2) = 1; cos(3/2) = 0; tan(3/2)
is undefined.
P

x
sin(
3
2
t
) = 1 cos(
3
2
t
) = 0 tan(
3
2
t
) is undefined


on y-axis on x-axis

P
3/2
x
P
2
x
/2
x
P
P
sin(0) = 0 cos(0) = 1 tan(0) = 0

on y-axis on x-axis on y-axis
x
sin(2) = 0 cos(2) = 1 tan(2) = 0

on y-axis on x-axis on y-axis

sin() = 0 cos() = 1 tan() = 0

on y-axis on x-axis on y-axis

sin(
2
t
) = 1 cos(
2
t
) = 0 tan(
2
t
) is undefined



on y-axis on x-axis
y
y y
y y
y y
y y
y

6

Trigonometric identities on the unit circle

The unit circle nicely shows a number of trigonometric identities.





x


y
sin( ) = sin()

P

P

x


y
cos( ) = cos()

P

P

x


y
tan( ) = tan()

P

P

y
x


y
sin( ) = sin()

P

P

x


y
cos( ) = cos()

P

P

x

+
y
sin( + ) = sin()

P

P
+
x

+
y
cos( + ) = cos()

P

P
+
x
tan( + ) = tan()
+
y
P

P
+
y

7

Ex 1. Fill in the blanks. If sin = 0.45 then sin( ) = ________ and sin( + ) = ________
Answer. If sin = 0.45 then sin( ) = 0.45 and sin( + ) = 0.45

Ex 2. Fill in the blanks. If cos = 0.67 then cos( ) = ________ and cos( + ) = ________
Answer. If cos = 0.67 then cos( ) = 0.67 and cos( + ) = 0.67

Ex 3. Fill in the blanks. If tan = 0.5 then tan( ) = ________ and tan( + ) = ________
Answer. If tan = 0.5 then tan( ) = 0.5 and tan( + ) = 0.5


Domain of the sine, cosine and tangent functions

Sin and cos are defined for all angles , but tan is undefined if = /2 kt for k = 0,1,2,3.because in this
case the x-coordinate of any point P on the terminal side of is x = 0, and this makes the ratio tan = y/x an
undefined quantity. Likewise there is no unit circle visualization of tan if = /2 kt because in this case the
terminal side of angle is vertical so the line that contains it cannot intersect the y-axis pictured in Figure 6.


sin and cos are defined for all real number values of
tan is defined for all real number values of
2
k
t
t = for k = 0,1,2,3.


Periodicity of the trigonometric functions

A function f is called periodic with period T if


( ) ( ) f x T f x + = for all x in the domain of f


The smallest positive number T meeting the condition above is called the fundamental period of the function. The
trigonometric functions are periodic because as pointed out above,

sin() = sin( 2k) for k = 0, 1, 2, 3...
cos() = cos( 2k) for k = 0, 1, 2, 3...
tan() = tan( 2k) for k = 0, 1, 2, 3...

The fundamental periods of the sine, cosine and tangent functions are the following:


sin( 2 ) sin( ) u t u + = for all . The fundamental period of the sine function is 2 T t =
cos( 2 ) cos( ) u t u + = for all . The fundamental period of the cosine function is 2 T t =
tan( ) tan( ) u t u + = for all . The fundamental period of the tangent function is T t =




8

Exact values of sin, cos and tan for = 45, = 60 and = 30






in degrees in radians cos sin tan
30

6

3
2

1
2

3
3

45

4


2
2

2
2
1
60

3

1
2


3
2
3


These results are shown in Figure 9.


60
s
s
2
2 2
2
s
h s
| |
+ =
|
\ .

2
2
3
4
s
h =
3
2
h s =
tan(60)
3
2
1
2
3
1
2
s
h
s s
= = = tan(30)
1
cot(60 )
3
3
3
= = =
sin(60)
3
2
3
2
s
h
s s
= = = sin(30) cos(60
1
2
) = =
cos(60)
1
1
2
2
s
s
= = cos(30) sin(60
3
2
) = =

30
1
2
s
60
30
1
2
s
h
45
s
s
2 2 2
x s s = +
2 2
2 x s = 2 x s =
tan(45) 1
s
s
= =
sin(45)
1 2
2 2 2
s
s
= = =
cos(45)
1 2
2 2 2
s
s
= = =
45
x

9






























Ex 1. Fill in the blanks based on the symmetries in Figure 9.


11
sin
6
t | |
=
|
\ .
_____
11
cos
6
t | |
=
|
\ .
_____
11
tan
6
t | |
=
|
\ .
_____

11
csc
6
t | |
=
|
\ .
_____
11
sec
6
t | |
=
|
\ .
_____
11
cot
6
t | |
=
|
\ .
_____

Answer.
11
in
2
s
6
1 t | |
=
|
\

.

11
os
2
c
6
3 t | |
=
|
\ .

11
an
3
t
6
3 t | |
=
|
\

.


11
csc
6
2
t | |
=
|
\

.

11
ec
3
s
6
2 t | |
=
|
\ .

11
ot
3
c
6
3 t | |
=
|
\

.







30
45
60
120
270
180
150
135
225
315
330
240
300
210
y
t
2
3
t

3
4
t

5
6
t

/2
7
6
t

5
4
t

4
3
t

5
3
t

7
4
t

11
6
t

3/2
1
2

2
2

3
2

1/2
2 / 2
3 / 2
1 on the x-axis
3
1
1
3
3

0 on the y-axis
x
/4
/6
/3
1 2 3
2 2 2
< <
0.5 < 0.71 < 0.87

3
1 3
3
< <
0.58 < 1 < 1.73
Figure 9
y

10

Ex 2. Fill in the blanks based on the symmetries in Figure 9.


4
sin
3
t | |
=
|
\ .
_____
4
cos
3
t | |
=
|
\ .
_____
4
tan
3
t | |
=
|
\ .
_____

4
csc
3
t | |
=
|
\ .
_____
4
sec
3
t | |
=
|
\ .
_____
4
cot
3
t | |
=
|
\ .
_____

Answer.
4
sin
3
3
2
t | |
=
|

\ .

4
cos
3
1
2
t | |
=
|

\ .

4
tan 3
3
t | |
=
|
\ .


4
csc
3
2
3
t | |
=
|

\ .

4
sec 2
3
t | |
=
|
\

.

3
4
cot
3
1 t | |
=
|
\ .





Ex 3. Fill in the blanks based on the symmetries in Figure 9.


3
sin
4
t | |
=
|
\ .
_____
3
cos
4
t | |
=
|
\ .
_____
3
tan
4
t | |
=
|
\ .
_____

3
csc
4
t | |
=
|
\ .
_____
3
sec
4
t | |
=
|
\ .
_____
3
cot
4
t | |
=
|
\ .
_____

Answer.
2
3
sin
4
2 t | |
=
|
\ .

3
cos
4
2
2
t | |
=
|

\ .

3
tan 1
4
t | |
=
|
\

.


2
3
csc
4
2 t | |
=
|
\ .

3
sec
4
2
2
t | |
=
|

\ .

3
cot 1
4
t | |
=
|
\

.