Module 5 Trigonometry

The word trigonometry is derived from the Greek words trigon and metron and it
means measuring the sides of a triangle. The subject was originally developed to
solve geometric problems involving triangles. It was studied by sea captains for
navigation, surveyor to map out the new lands, by engineers and others. Currently,
trigonometry is used in many areas such as the science of seismology, designing
electric circuits, describing the state of an atom, predicting the heights of tides in the
ocean, analysing a musical tone and in many other areas.
Module 5.1 Angles
Angle is a measure of rotation of a given ray about its initial point. The original ray is
Figure A
called the initial side and the final position of the ray after rotation is called the
terminal side of the angle. The point of rotation is called the vertex. If the direction of
rotation is anticlockwise, the angle is said to be positive and if the direction of
rotation is clockwise, then the angle is negative (Figure A).
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The measure of an angle is the amount of rotation performed to get the terminal side
from the initial side. There are several units for measuring angles. The definition of
an angle suggests a unit, viz. one complete revolution from the position of the initial
side as indicated in Figure B
Figure B
This is often convenient for large angles. For example, we can say that a rapidly
spinning wheel is making an angle of say 15 revolution per second. We shall
describe two other units of measurement of an angle which are most commonly
used, viz. degree measure and radian measure.
Degree measure If a rotation from the initial side to terminal side is [1/360
th
] of
a revolution, the angle is said to have a measure of one degree, written as 1. A
degree is divided into 60 minutes, and a minute is divided into 60 seconds . One
sixtieth of a degree is called a minute, written as 1, and one sixtieth of a minute is
called a second, written as 1. Thus, 1 = 60, 1 = 60 . Some of the angles whose
measures are 360,180, 270, 420, 30, 420 are shown in Figure C
Figure C
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Figure D
Module 5.2 Radian measure: There is another unit for measurement of an angle,
called the radian measure. Angle subtended at the centre by an arc of length 1 unit
in a unit circle (circle of radius 1 unit) is said to have a measure of 1 radian. In the
Figure D(i) to (iv), OA is the initial side and OB is the terminal side. The figures show
the angles whose measures are 1 radian, 1 radian, 1 radian and 1 radian.. We
know that the circumference of a circle of radius 1 unit is 2. Thus, one complete
revolution of the initial side subtends an angle of 2 radian. More generally, in a
circle of radius r, an arc of length r will subtend an angle of 1 radian. It is well-known
that equal arcs of a circle subtend equal angle at the centre. Since in a circle of
radius r, an arc of length r subtends an angle whose measure is l/r radian, an arc of
length l will subtend an angle whose measure is radian. Thus, if ia circle of radius r,
an arc of length l subtends an angle radian at the centre, we have = l/r or l = r
.
Module 5.3 Relation between radian and real numbers: Consider the unit circle
with centre O. Let A be any point on the circle. Consider OA as initial side of an
angle. Then the length of an arc of the circle will give the radian measure of the
angle which the arc will subtend at centre of the circle. Consider the line PAQ which
is tangent to the circle at A. Let the point A represent the at the real number zero, AP
represents positive real number and AQ represents negative real numbers. If we
rope the line AP in the anticlockwise direction along the circle, and AQ in the
clockwise direction, then every real number will correspond to a radian measure and
conversely. Thus, radian measures and real numbers can be considered as one and
the same (Figure E).
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Figure E
Module 5.4 Relation between degree and radian: Since a circle subtends at the
centre an angle whose radian measure is 2 and its degree measure is 360, it
follows that 2 radian = 360 or radian = 180 The above relation enables us to
express a radian measure in terms of degree measure and a degree measure in
terms of radian measure Figure E. Using approximate value of as 22/7, we have
1 radian = 180/ = 57.16
Also 1 = / 180 = 0.01746 radian
The relation between degree measures and radian measure of some common
angles are given in the following table:
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Module 5.5 Notational Convention: Since angles are measured either in degrees
or in radians, we adopt the convention that whenever we write angle , we mean
the angle whose degree measure is and whenever we write angle , we mean the
angle whose radian measure is .
Note that when an angle is expressed in radians, the word radian is frequently
omitted. Thus, are written with the understanding that and / 4 are radian
measures. Thus, we can say that
E.g., 1 Convert 40 20 into radian measure. We know that 180 = radian.
E.g., 2 Convert 6 radians into degree measure. We know that radian = 180.
Find the radius of the circle in which a central angle of 60 intercepts an arc of length
37.4 cm (use = 22/7).
Here l = 37.4 cm and = 60 = / 180 radian = / 3
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E.g., 3 If the arcs of the same lengths in two circles subtend angles 65and 110 at
the centre, find the ratio of their radii.
Module 5.6 Trignomteric Functions: There are six trigonometric functions: sine,
cosine, tangent, cotangent, secant, and cosecant; abbreviated as sin, cos, tan,
cot, sec, and csc respectively. These are functions of a single real variable that is
normally an angle measurement given in terms of radians or degrees.
Consequently,v alues such as sin 2.7 rad or tan 33 (read: the sine of 2.7 radians or
the tangent of 33 degrees) often appear in trigonometric expressions. In the first
case,the radian identifier (rad) is frequently suppressed for simplicity and sin 2.7 rad
is shortened to sin 2.7. When variables such as t or ( is the Greek letter alpha)
denote angles,measuremen t identifiers are usually omitted. Consequently,the
reader will encounter expressions such as sin t and tan . In such cases the context
must make the choice of measurement clear. In this tutorial we will normally use
Greek letters to denote angles measured in degrees while most other variables
generally denote radian measurement.
From Figure F given belowe, all angles which are integral multiples of /2 are called
quadrantal angles. The coordinates of the points A, B, C and D are, respectively, (1,
0), (0, 1), (1, 0) and (0, 1). Therefore, for quadrantal angles, we have
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Figure F
95
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Signs of Trignometric functions
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Module 5.7 The Six Trigonometric Functions
The two basic trigonometric functions are: sine (which we have already studied), and
cosine. By taking ratios and reciprocals of these functions, we obtain four other
functions, called tangent, secant, cosecant, and cotangent.
Cosine
Let us go back to the bicycle introduced in the preceding section, and recall that the
sine of t, sin t, was defined as the y-coordinate of a marker on the wheel. The cosine
of t, denoted by cos t, is defined in almost the same way, except that this time, we
use the x-coordinates of the marker on the wheel. (See the figure.)
cos t is defined as the x-coordinate of the point P shown.
First notice that the coordinates of the point P in the above diagram are (cos t, sin t),
and that the distance from P to the origin is 1 unit. So we have:
Square of the distance from P to (0, 0) = 1
(sin t)
2
+ (cos t)
2
= 1
We often write this as
sin
2
t + cos
2
t = 1,
ant so we have found a relationship between the sine and cosine function.
Fundamental Trigonometric Identity
sin
2
t + cos
2
t = 1
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Let us now turn attention to the graph of the cosine function. The graph, as you
might expect, is almost identical to that of the sine function, except for a "phase shift"
(see the figure).
This gives the following new pair of identities.
Relationships Between Sine and Cosine: The cosine curve is obtained from the
sine curve by shifting it to the left a distance of /2. Conversely, we can obtain the
sine curve from the cosine curve by shifting it /2 units to the right.
cos t = sin(t + /2)
sin t = cos(t /2)
Alternative formulation : We can also obtain the cosine curve by first inverting the
sine curve vertically (replace t by t) and then shifting to the right a distance of /2.
This gives us two alternative formulas (which are easier to remember)
cos t = sin( /2 t)
sin t = cos( /2 t)
The Other Trigonometric Functions
As it was said above, we can take ratios and reciprocals of sine and cosine to obtain
four new functions. Here they are.
Tangent, Cotangent, Secant, and Cosecant
tan x =
sin x
cos x
tangent
cotan x =
cos x
sin x
=
1
tan x
cotangent
sec x =
1
cos x
secant
cosec x =
1
sin x
cosecant
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The Trigonometric Functions as Ratios in a Right Triangle
Let us go back to the figure that defines the sine and cosine, but this time, let us
think of these two quantities as lengths of sides of a right triangle:
We are also thinking of the quantity t as a measure of the angle shown rather than
the length of an arc. Looking at the figure, we find that
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sin t = length of side opposite the angle t =
opposite
1
=
opposite
hypotenuse
cos t = length of side adjacent to the angle t =
adjacent
1
=
adjacent
hypotenuse
tan t =
sin t
cos t
=
opposite
adjacent
This gives us the following six formulas
The Trigonometric Functions as Ratios in a Right Triangle
Defining Formula Ratio in Right Triangle
sin t = y-coordinate of point P sin t =
opposite
hypotenuse
cos t = x-coordinate of point P cos t =
adjacent
hypotenuse
tan t =
sin t
cos t
tan t =
opposite
adjacent
cotan t =
cos t
sin t
cotan t =
adjacent
opposite
sec t =
1
cos t
sec t =
hypotenuse
adjacent
cosec t =
1
sin t
cosec t =
hypotenuse
opposite
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Module 5.8 Trigonometric equations:
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