Trigonometry functions - introduction

There are six functions that are the core of trigonometry. There are three primary ones that you need to understand completely:

o Sine (sin)
o Cosine (cos)
o Tangent (tan)

The other three are not used as often and can be derived from the three primary functions. Because they can easily be derived,
calculators and spreadsheets do not usually have them.

o Secant (sec)
o Cosecant (csc)
o Cotangent (cot)

All six functions have three-letter abbreviations (shown in parentheses above).

Definitions of the six functions

Consider the right triangle on the left. For each angle P or Q, there are six functions, each function is the ratio of two sides of
the triangle. The only difference between the six functions is which pair of sides we use.

In the following table

o a is the length of the side adjacent to the angle (x) in question.

o o is the length of the side opposite the angle.
o h is the length of the hypotenuse.
"x" represents the measure of ther angle in either degrees or radians.

 sin 
x
Sine =
o
h

 cos 
x
The three primary functions
Cosine =
a
h

 tan 
x
Tangent =
o
a

Cosecant  csc  Notice how each is the reciprocal of sin, cos or tan.  csc 
 x x

= =

h 1

o  sin 

 sec 
 sec 
x
x
=
Secant =
1
h
 cos 
a
x

 cot   cot 

x x
Cotangent
= =

a 1
 o  tan 

For example, in the figure above, the cosine of x is the side adjacent to x (labeled a), over the hypotenuse (labeled h):
 cos 
x
=
a
h
If a=12cm, and h=24cm, then cos x = 0.5 (12 over 24).

Soh Cah Toa

These 9 letters are a memory aid to remember the ratios for the three primary functions - sin, cos and tan. Pronounced a bit
like "soaka towa". See Sohcahtoa.

The ratios are constant

Because the functions are a ratio of two side lengths, they always produce the same result for a given angle, regardless of the
size of the triangle.

In the figure above, drag the point C. The triangle will adjust to keep the angle C at 30°. Note how the ratio of the opposite side
to the hypotenuse does not change, even though their lengths do. Because of that, the sine of 30° does not vary either. It is
always 0.5.

Remember: When you apply a trig function to a given angle, it always produces the same result. For example tan 60° is
always 1.732.
 Using a calculator
Most calculators have buttons to find the sin, cos and tan of an angle. Be sure to set the calculator to degrees or radians mode
depending on what units you are using.

Inverse functions
For each of the six functions there is an inverse function that works in reverse. The inverse function has the letters 'ARC' in
front of it.
For example the inverse function of COS is ARCCOS. While COS tells you the cosine of an angle, ARCCOS tells you what
angle has a given cosine. See Inverse trigonometric functions.

On calculators and spreadsheets, the inverse functions are sometimes written acos(x) or cos-1(x).

Trigonometry functions of large and/or negative angles

The six functions can also be defined in a rectangular coordinate system. This allows them to go beyond right triangles, to
where the angles can have any measure, even beyond 360°, and can be both positive and negative. For more on this
see Trigonometry functions of large and negative angles.

Identities - replacing a function with others

Trigonometric identities are simply ways of writing one function using others. For example, from the table above we see
that
 sec 
x
=
1
c
o
 s
x
This equivalence is called an identity. If we had an equation with sec x in it, we could replace sec x with
one over cos x if that helps us reach our goals. There are many such identities. For more see Trigonometric identities.

Not just right triangles

These functions are defined using a right triangle, but they have uses in other triangles too. For example the Law of Sines and
the Law of Cosines can be used to solve any triangle - not just right triangles.

Graphing the functions

The functions can be graphed, and some, notably the SIN function, produce shapes that frequently occur in
nature. For example see the graph of the SIN function, often called a sine wave, on the right. For more see

 Graph of the sine function

 Graph of the cosine function
 Graph of the tangent function

Pure audio tones and radio waves are sine waves in their respective medium.
 The 6 Trig Ratios
For any right triangle, there are six trig ratios: Sine (sin), cosine (cos), tangent (tan), cosecant (csc), secant (sec), and
cotangent (cot).

Here are the formulas for these six trig ratios:

Given a triangle, you should be able to identify all 6 ratios for all the angles (except the right angle).

Let's start by finding all 6 ratios for angle A.

Notice that the csc, sec, and cot can be found simply by flipping the ratio they are associated with. Or,
you can use the formulas.

To find the 6 ratios for angle B, just start over again and rethink them looking at angle B instead of angle A. This means
that the opposite and the adjacent sides switch while the hypotenuse stays the same. Here are the 6 ratios for angle B:

Go back and compare the ratios from angle A with the ratios from angle B. You will notice quite a few relationships.

Practice: Find the following:

1. Sin A 9.
2. Cos A Tan B
3. Tan A 10.
4. Csc A Csc B
5. Sec A 11.
6. Cot A Sec B
7. Sin B 12. Cot B
8. Cos B
Answers:
 Unit Circle

The "Unit Circle" is a circle with a radius of 1.

Being so simple, it is a great way to learn and talk about lengths and angles.

The center is put on a graph where the x axis and y axis cross, so we get this neat arrangement here.

Sine, Cosine and Tangent

Because the radius is 1, we can directly measure sine, cosine and tangent .

What happens when the angle, θ, is 0°?

cos 0° = 1, sin 0° = 0 and tan 0° = 0

What happens when θ is 90°?

cos 90° = 0, sin 90° = 1 and tan 90° is undefined

Try It Yourself!
Have a try! Move the mouse around to see how different angles (in radians or degrees ) affect sine, cosine
and tangent

The "sides" can be positive or negative according to the rules of Cartesian coordinates . This makes the sine,
cosine and tangent change between positive and negative values also.

Also try the Interactive Unit Circle .

Pythagoras
Pythagoras' Theorem says that for a right angled triangle, the square of the long side equals the sum of the
squares of the other two sides:

x2 + y 2 = 1 2

But 12 is just 1, so:

x2 + y2 = 1
(the equation of the unit circle)

Also, since x=cos and y=sin, we get:

(cos(θ))2 + (sin(θ))2 = 1

a useful "identity"

Important Angles: 30°, 45° and 60°

You should try to remember sin, cos and tan for the angles 30°, 45° and 60°.

Yes, yes, it is a pain to have to remember things, but it will make life easier when you know them, not just in
exams, but other times when you need to do quick estimates, etc.

These are the values you should remember!

Angle Sin Cos Tan=Sin/Cos

 30° 1√3 = √33

45° 1

60° √3

How To Remember?

To help you remember, sin goes "1,2,3" :

sin(30°) = √12 = 12 (because √1 = 1)
sin(45°) = √22
sin(60°) = √32

And cos goes "3,2,1"

cos(30°) = √32
cos(45°) = √22
cos(60°) = √12 = 12
Just 3 Numbers
In fact, knowing 3 numbers is enough: 12 , √22 and √32
Because they work for both cos and sin:

What about tan?

Well, tan = sin/cos, so we can calculate it like this:

tan(30°) =sin(30°)cos(30°) = 1/2√3/2 = 1√3 = √33 *

tan(45°) =sin(45°)cos(45°) = √2/2√2/2 = 1

tan(60°) =sin(60°)cos(60°) = √3/21/2 = √3

* Note: writing 1√3 may cost you marks (see Rational Denominators ), so instead use √33
Quick Sketch
Another way to help you remember 30° and 60° is to make a quick sketch:

Draw a triangle with side lengths of 2

Cut in half. Pythagoras says the new side is √3

12 + (√3)2 = 22

1+3=4

Then use sohcahtoa for sin, cos or tan

Example: sin(30°)

Sine: sohcahtoa

sine is opposite divided by hypotenuse

sin(30°) = oppositehypotenuse = 12
The Whole Circle
For the whole circle we need values in every quadrant , with the correct plus or minus sign as per Cartesian
Coordinates :

Note that cos is first and sin is second, so it goes (cos, sin):
 Save as PDF

Example: What is cos(330°) ?

Make a sketch like this, and we can see it is the "long" value: √32

And this is the same Unit Circle in radians.

Example: What is sin(7π/6) ?

Think "7π/6 = π + π/6", then make a sketch.

We can then see it is negative and is the "short" value: −½

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Questi
on 9 Question 10
Footnote: where do the values come from?

2
We can use the equation x + y2 = 1 to find the lengths of x and y (which are equal to cos and sin when the radius is 1):

45 Degrees

For 45 degrees, x and y are equal, so y=x:

x2 + x2 = 1

2x2 = 1

x2 = ½

x = y = √(½)
60 Degrees

Take an equilateral triangle (all sides are equal and all angles are 60°) and split it down the middle.

The "x" side is now ½,

And the "y" side is:

(½)2 + y2 = 1

¼ + y2 = 1

y2 = 1-¼ = ¾

y = √(¾)
30 Degrees

30° is just 60° with x and y swapped, so x = √(¾) and y = ½

And:

√(½) is also this:

And √(¾) is also this:

And here is the result (same as before):

Angle Sin Cos Tan=Sin/Cos

30° 1√3 = √33

45° 1

60° √3
 Order of Operations
PEMDAS
Operations

"Operations" mean things like add, subtract, multiply, divide, squaring, etc. If it isn't a number it is probably
an operation.

But, when you see something like ...

7 + (6 × 52 + 3)
... what part should you calculate first?

Start at the left and go to the right?

Or go from right to left?

Warning: Calculate them in the wrong order, and you can get a wrong answer !

So, long ago people agreed to follow rules when doing calculations, and they are:

Order of Operations
Do things in Parentheses First
 6 × (5 + 3) = 6 × 8 = 48

6 × (5 + 3) = 30 + 3 = 33 (wrong)

Exponents (Powers, Roots) before Multiply, Divide, Add or Subtract

5 × 22 = 5 × 4 = 20

5 × 22 = 102 = 100 (wrong)

Multiply or Divide before you Add or Subtract

2 + 5 × 3 = 2 + 15 = 17

2+5×3 = 7×3 = 21 (wrong)

Otherwise just go left to right

 30 ÷ 5 × 3 = 6 × 3 = 18

30 ÷ 5 × 3 = 30 ÷ 15 = 2 (wrong)

How Do I Remember It All ... ? PEMDAS !

P Parentheses first

E Exponents (ie Powers and Square Roots, etc.)

MD Multiplication and Division (left-to-right)

AS Addition and Subtraction (left-to-right)

Divide and Multiply rank equally (and go left to right).

Add and Subtract rank equally (and go left to right)

So do it this way:
After you have done "P" and "E", just go from left to right doing any "M" or "D" as you find them.

Then go from left to right doing any "A" or "S" as you find them.

You can remember by saying "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally".

Pudgy Elves May Demand A Snack

Popcorn Every Monday Donuts Always Sunday
Or ...
Please Eat Mom's Delicious Apple Strudels
People Everywhere Made Decisions About Sums

Note: in the UK they say BODMAS (Brackets,Orders,Divide,Multiply,Add,Subtract), and in Canada they say
BEDMAS (Brackets,Exponents,Divide,Multiply,Add,Subtract). It all means the same thing! It doesn't matter
how you remember it, just so long as you get it right.

Examples
Example: How do you work out 3 + 6 × 2 ?

Multiplication before Addition:

First 6 × 2 = 12, then 3 + 12 = 15

Example: How do you work out (3 + 6) × 2 ?

Parentheses first:

First (3 + 6) = 9, then 9 × 2 = 18

Example: How do you work out 12 / 6 × 3 / 2 ?

Multiplication and Division rank equally, so just go left to right:

First 12 / 6 = 2, then 2 × 3 = 6, then 6 / 2 = 3

A practical example:
Example: Sam threw a ball straight up at 20 meters per second, how far did it go in 2 seconds?

Sam uses this special formula that includes the effects of gravity:

height = velocity × time − (1/2) × 9.8 × time 2

Sam puts in the velocity of 20 meters per second and time of 2 seconds:

height = 20 × 2 − (1/2) × 9.8 × 22

Now for the calculations!

2
Start with:20 × 2 − (1/2) × 9.8 × 2

2
Parentheses first:20 × 2 − 0.5 × 9.8 × 2
 Then Exponents (22=4):20 × 2 − 0.5 × 9.8 × 4

Then the Multiplies: 40 − 19.6

Subtract and DONE ! 20.4

The ball reaches 20.4 meters after 2 seconds

Exponents of Exponents ...

What about this example?

432
Exponents are special: they go top-down (do the exponent at the top first). So we calculate this way:

Start with: 432

32 = 3×3: 49

49 = 4×4×4×4×4×4×4×4×4: 262144

So 432 = 4(32), not (43)2

And finally, what about the example from the beginning?

2
Start with:7 + (6 × 5 + 3)

Parentheses first and then Exponents:7 + (6 × 25 + 3)

Then Multiply:7 + ( 150 + 3)

Then Add:7 + ( 153 )

Parentheses completed:7 + 153

Last operation is an Add: 160

Simplify radical expressions
The properties of exponents, which we've talked about earlier, tell us among other things that

(xy)a=xaya(xy)a=xaya
(xy)a=xaya(xy)a=xaya
We also know that

x−−√a=x1axa=x1a
oror
x−−√=x12x=x12
If we combine these two things then we get the product property of radicals and the quotient property of radicals. These two properties tell us that the square root
of a product equals the product of the square roots of the factors.

xy−−√=x−−√⋅y√xy=x⋅y
xy−−√=x−−√y√xy=xy
wherex≥0,y≥0wherex≥0,y≥0
The answer can't be negative and x and y can't be negative since we then wouldn't get a real answer. In the same way we know that

x2−−√=xwherex≥0x2=xwherex≥0
These properties can be used to simplify radical expressions. A radical expression is said to be in its simplest form if there are

no perfect square factors other than 1 in the radicand

16x−−−√=16−−√⋅x−−√=42−−√⋅x−−√=4x−−√16x=16⋅x=42⋅x=4x
no fractions in the radicand and

2516x2−−−−−√=25−−√16−−√⋅x2−−√=54x2516x2=2516⋅x2=54x
no radicals appear in the denominator of a fraction.

1516−−−√=15−−√16−−√=15−−√41516=1516=154
If the denominator is not a perfect square you can rationalize the denominator by multiplying the expression by an appropriate form of 1 e.g.

xy−−√=x−−√y√⋅y√y√=xy−−√y2−−√=xy−−√yxy=xy⋅yy=xyy2=xyy
Binomials like

xy√+zw−−√andxy√−zw−−√xy+zwandxy−zw
are called conjugates to each other. The product of two conjugates is always a rational number which means that you can use conjugates to rationalize the
denominator e.g.

x4+x−−√=x(4−x−−√)(4+x−−√)(4−x−−√)=x4+x=x(4−x)(4+x)(4−x)=
=x(4−x−−√)16−(x−−√)2=4x−xx−−√16−x=x(4−x)16−(x)2=4x−xx16−x
 What is a radical expression?
A radical expression is a numerical expression or an algebraic expression that include a radical.

See below 2 examples of radical expressions.

√x2+5 and 105√ 32 x2+5 and 10325

A radical expression can also have fractions

√ 326 and √ 3s327s 326 and 3s327s

There are 3 important pieces in any radical expressions. These are the radical sign, the radicand, and the index.

in 105√ 32 ,in 10325,

The symbol √is called a radical signThe symbol is called a radical sign
The expression within the radical sign is called a radicand. In this case, the radicand is 32.

The number 5 is called the index.

An index of 5 means that we are looking for the fifth root. An index of 3 means that we are looking for the cube root.

An index of 2 is the square root. Usually, when the index is 2, we do not show the 2.

nth root of a =n√ a ,nth root of a =an,

If the index n is even, the radicand a must be nonnegative for the root to be a real number.

For example, the following radical expressions do not have a real number root.

4 √−16 and √−4−164 and −4

We can add, subtract, multiply, and divide radical expressions.

 Simplifying Rational Expressions

Learning Objective(s)
 Simplify fractions with polynomials in the numerator and denominator by factoring and simplifying them.

Introduction

Rational expressions are fractions that have a polynomial in the numerator or the denominator or both. Although rational
expressions can seem complicated because they contain variables, they can be simplified in the same way that numerical fractions
are simplified.

Finding the Domain of an Expression

The first step in simplifying a rational expression is to determine the domain, the set of all possible values of the variables. The
denominator in a fraction cannot be zero because division by zero is undefined. So we need to figure out what values of the
variable(s) in the expression would make the denominator equal zero. These values cannot be included in the domain, so they're
called excluded values. We discard them right at the start, before we go any further.

For rational expressions, the domain will exclude values for which the value of the denominator is 0. Two examples to illustrate
finding the domain of an expression are shown below.

Example
Problem
Identify the domain of the expression
Find any values for x that
x–4=0 would make the denominator
= 0.
When x = 4, the denominator
x=4
is equal to 0.
Answer
The domain is all x not equal to 4.
That wasn't hard. Let's try one that's a little more challenging:

Example
Problem
Identify the domain of the expression
Find any values for x that would make the
denominator = 0 by setting the
=0 denominator = 0 and solving the
equation.

(x + 9)(x – 1) = 0 Solve the equation by factoring. The

solutions are the values that are excluded
x = -9 or x = 1 from the domain.

Answer
The domain is all x not equal to -9 or 1.

Find the domain of the rational expression .

A) all x
B) all x not equal to 2 or 8
C) all x not equal to 0
D) all x not equal to -2, 2

Show/Hide Answer

Simplifying Rational Expressions

Once we've figured out the excluded values, the next step is to simplify. To simplify a rational expression, we follow the same
approach we'd use to simplify numerical fractions: find common factors in the numerator and denominator. Let’s start by looking at
this method for a numerical fraction:
 Example
Problem
Simplify
Factor the numerator and
denominator

Pull out factors of 1

Simplify

Answer

Now, we could have done that problem in our heads. But it was worth writing it all down, because that's exactly how we simplify a
rational expression.

So let's simplify a rational expression, using the same technique we applied to that fraction just now. Only this time the numerator
and denominator are both monomials with variables:

Example
Problem

Simplify and state the domain for the expression

 25xy = 0 Find the excluded values,
the values of x and y that
x = 0 or y = 0 make the numerator equal
to 0.
The domain is all x not equal to 0 and
all y not equal to 0.
Factor the numerator and
denominator

Rewrite with factors of 1

Simplify

Answer

The domain is all x not equal to 0 and

all y not equal to 0

See—the same steps worked again. In the examples that follow, the numerator and the denominator are polynomials with more than
one term, but the same principles of simplifying will once again apply. Factor the numerator and denominator to simplify the rational
expression.

Example
Problem Simplify and state the domain for the

expression

x2 + 12x + 27 = 0 Determine the values for

which the denominator is
(x + 3)(x + 9) = 0 equal to 0. Factor the
quadratic to find the
x = -3 or x = -9 values.
Factor the numerator
and denominator.

Rewrite with factors of 1,

and then simplify.

Answer

The domain is all x not -9 or -3

Example
Problem Simplify and state the domain for the expression

x3 – x2 – 20x = 0 Determine the values for

 which the denominator
x(x2 – x – 20) = 0 is equal to 0.

x(x – 5)(x + 4) = 0

x = 0 or x = 5 or x = -4

Factor the numerator

and denominator of the
rational expression.

Rewrite with factors of

1, then simplify.

Simplify. It is acceptable
to either leave the
denominator in factored
or form or to distribute
multiplication.
Answer

or
The domain is all x not equal to -4, 0, 5

No matter how many terms or variables there are in a rational expression, we can simplify it by following the same steps:
The Steps for Simplifying a Rational Expression:

Determine the domain. The excluded values are those values that result in a
denominator of 0.

Find common factors for the numerator and denominator and simplify.

Simplify the rational expression below and state the domain.

A) ; domain is all x

B) ; domain is all x not –10 or

C) ; domain is all x

D) ; domain is all x not –10 or

Show/Hide Answer
Summary

Rational expressions, or fractions containing polynomials, can be simplified much like fractions can be simplified. To simplify a
rational expression, first determine common factors of the numerator and denominator, and then remove them by rewriting them as
expressions equal to 1.

An additional consideration for rational expressions is to determine what values are excluded from the domain. Since division by 0 is
undefined, any values of the variables that result in a denominator of 0 must be excluded. Excluded values must be identified in the
original equation, not its factored form.