14.

1 - Trigonometry

The Cartesian Plane

The cartesian plane is a plane
on which an x axis is drawn
horizontally and a y axis is
drawn vertically. Any points in
the plane are referred to by
using ordered pair notation
like this:

This is the point at x = 1.5 and y = 2. It is indicated in

the picture to the right.
This method of using an x value and a y value to locate a
point in the plane is called the rectangular coordinate
system (notice the dotted rectangle shown in the picture).
Another coordinate system in common use, for example
for complex numbers, is the polar coordinate system; it
uses a distance from the origin and a direction to locate a
point.
The plane is divided into 4 quadrants. Quadrant 1 has
positive x and y values. The other quadrants are reached by
going counter-clockwise from the first.

Angles and their Measure

An angle in standard
position has its vertex at
the origin and one side along
the x axis.

 The angle is generated when the ray is rotated from the

initial to the terminal position.
A counter-clockwise rotation is considered to be
a positive rotation.

A clockwise rotation is
considered to be
a negative rotation.

There are two scales that are

commonly used to measure the size
of an angle: the degree
scale and the radian scale:
Degrees
In this scale an angle is
expressed in units
called degrees, with a rotation
of one full circle being 360
degrees ( symbol ).

Radians
In this scale an angle is
expressed in units
called radians, with a full
circle rotation being 2 or
approximately 6.28 radians.
The radian scale is formally
defined like this:

The size of angle expressed in radians equals s (the arc

length subtendend by the angle) divided by r (the radius of the
circle).

For one full circle s = C (the circumference), and

since C = 2 r we get
for an angle of one full circle.
Note that since s and r have the same units, the radian is a
unitless unit!

Example: The angle in the picture to the right equals 2

radians since s = 6 and r = 3.

Converting between degrees

and radians
To convert between degrees
and radians you can use the
fact that radians = 180.
This means that:

These two fractions are called UFOOs (useful forms of one).

Multiplying any angle by one of these does not change the
size of the angle but it does change the units of the angle.

Example: Convert 118 to radians.

Solution:

Example: Convert 0.438 radians to degrees.

Solution:

The Angles of a Triangle

The sum of the angles in any triangle equals 180 or
radians.

Pythagoras Theorem and Lengths

Pythagoras theorem is concerned with the lengths of the
sides of right triangles. (A right angle is a 90 angle and
a right triangle is one that contains a 90 angle.) Consider
the right triangle with sides of length a, b and c shown to
the right. a is called the altitude, b is called
the base and c, the longest side opposite the right angle, is
called the hypotenuse. Pythagoras' theorem states that the
sides are related by the formula:
c2 = a2 + b2
A nice animated proof of Pythagoras
theorem can be found
at http://www.math.ubc.ca/~morey/java/pyth
/

Example: Find the length of the straight line in the

Cartesian plane extending from the point (x1, y1) = (1.5, 2)
to the point (x2, y2) = (2, 1).
Solution: Extend the dotted lines horizontally and
vertically to create a right triangle. This triangle has
base b = 3.5 and altitude a = 3, so Pythagoras' theorem
gives:

c2 = 32 + 3.52 = 21.25
Taking the square root of both
sides gives the length of the
straight line as

This example illustrates the

following very useful
application of Pythagoras'
theorem. If (x1, y1) and (x2, y2)
are any two points in the Cartesian plane then the
distance c between them can be obtained from the formula:

Definitions of the trigonometric functions

For now let us restrict ourselves to right triangles.
Notice that if a triangle is scaled up in size then the sides
get longer, but the ratio of the lengths of any two sides
does not change.
It is possible to define six different ratios.
Let opposite and adjacent denote the lengths of the sides
opposite and adjacent to angle and let hypotenuse denote
the long side. The six ratios are named sine, cosine,
tangent, cotangent, secant and cosecant and are defined as
follows:
Note:
The names of the six ratios are
abbreviated as sin, cos, tan,
cot, sec, csc.
The six ratios depend on (are functions of) the
angle . Denote this using functional notation like
this: sin(), cos(), etc.
Later when we discuss trigonometric functions of any
angle it will be very useful to imagine an arrow
(or vector) radiating out from the origin with

length r and orientated at angle . Then a triangle can

be constructed by drawing lines vertically and
horizontally to the xand y axes. Suppose that the arrowhead is at coordinate (x, y). Then the six trigonometric
functions can be defined like this:

The three trigonometric functions: sin, cos and tan are

built into your calculator. Since their values depend on
the angle , they are found by entering the angle into
your calculator in the appropriate mode (degree or
radian) and pressing the appropriate button, sin, cos or
tan.
The other three trigonometric functions: csc, sec and
cot are not built into your calculator. To find them you
must instead find the sin, cos or tan on your calculator
and then take the reciprocal.

Examples:
sin(30) = 0.500
tan (57) = 1.54
cos(0.74 rads) = 0.738
tan (1.1 rads) = 1.96

Example: Find y and r in the triangle.

Solution:
To find y use the fact
that
.
From the calculator tan(35.8) =
0.7212. Setting these equal to each other
gives

which can be solved to give y = 8.94.

To find r use the fact that

.
From the calculator cos(35.8) = 0.8111. Setting these
equal to each other gives
solved to give r = 15.3.

which can be

Answer: The required lengths are y = 8.94 and r = 15.3.

Definitions of the inverse trigonometric functions

Suppose that we wish to find the angle in the triangle
shown.

One thing we know is that

. Previously we
would put an angle into the calculator and press TAN to
get a value out for the tangent.
Here we want to do the inverse process - we want to put a
value of tan in and get an angle out. To do this your
calculator has the inverse trigonometric functions sin1,
cos1 and tan1 built in. (Note: the superscript 1 has
NOTHING to do with exponents. It is merely a NOTATION meaning
inverse function. To avoid this possible confusion these
functions are often called the arcsin, arccos and

arctan functions respectively.)

For this example tan() = 0.7381 so = tan1(0.7381). The
calculator gives tan1(0.7381) = 36.4, so = 36.4.
In general the inverse trigonometric functions are defined
like this:
If sin() = z, then = sin1(z).
If cos() = z, then = cos1(z).
If tan() = z, then = tan1(z).

Solution of right triangles

Solving a triangle means finding all the missing sides and
angles of the triangle. Here are the steps involved in
solving right triangles.
Draw a picture (with the angle in standard position, if
appropriate).
You will be given at least (a) one side and one angle,
or (b) two sides (otherwise the triangle cant be
solved).
In case (a) you can use sin, cos or tan as appropriate
to find another side.
In case (b) you can use sin1, cos1 or tan1 as
appropriate to find an angle.
Use Pythagoras' theorem to find the final side.
Use the fact that the angles sum to 180 to find the
final angle.
Give your answer in a sentence.

Example: A train is travelling along a straight section of

track. A pilot flying 4220 meters directly above the caboose
at the back end of the train observes that the angle of
depression of the locomotive at the front of the train is
68.2. Find the length of the train.
Solution: The picture on the left describes the situation.
Notice that the angle of elevation of the airplane from the
locomotive is also 68.2. The pictures on the right define
the terms angle of depression and angle of elevation,
which are used often in surveying work.

Using the tangent function we get:

Evaluating the tan function and solving for the length of the
train then gives:
The sentence answer is that to 3 significant figures the
length of the train is 1690 m.

Algebra Coach Exercises

Trigonometric functions of any angle

When we first defined the trigonometric functions the
angle was between 0 and 90 and we used the
terms adjacent, opposite and hypotenuse to refer to the sides
of a triangle. This was sufficient for right triangles. But
we now want to allow to have any value. One reason is to
be able to solve oblique triangles (triangles which dont
have a 90 angle). Another reason is that we want to be able
to describe the angle of spinning objects as they rotate
through many revolutions.
To do this we imagine an arrow (or vector) radiating out from
the origin with length r and orientated at angle . Suppose
that the arrow-head is at coordinate (x, y). Then a triangle
can be constructed by drawing lines vertically and
horizontally from the arrowhead to the x and yaxes. If is
outside the range 0 to 90 then x or y or both can be
negative. (Dont forget, however, that r is defined to be
positive.)
This means that the trigonometric functions can possibly be
negative since:

Example: The vector with length r = 2.5 and angle = 127

has x = 1.5 and y = 2.0. Thus:

Here are two ways to show the

signs of the trigonometric functions in the various
quadrants:

Many students use the saying All Students Take Chemistry to

remember the sequence of which functions are positive in
which quadrants.
As we have seen before, if you are given any angle
whatsoever, you can use the calculator to find its sin, cos
or tan. The answer is unique.
The new problem is that if you are given the sin, cos or tan
of angle , then you can use sin1, cos1 or tan1 on your
calculator to find one possible value of but you must use a
picture like below to find the other possible value
of between 0 and 360.

Example: Find the values of between 0 and 360 for which

sin() = +0.6293.

Solution: Since

, this means that

Recall that r is defined positive. If we let r = 1, for

example, then y = +0.6293. This means that the angles must be
in quadrants 1 and 2.
The calculator gives sin1(0.6293) = 39.0. The picture shows
that this means that the angles are = 39.0 and = 180
39.0 = 141.0

Example: Find two values

of between 0 and 360
for which tan() = 1.24.
Solution: Since
this means that

,
.

The picture shows that there are two ways that this ratio can
happen.
If we let x = 1 then y = 1.24. This means that one angle is
in quadrant 4.
And if we let x = 1 then y = + 1.24. This means that the
other angle is in quadrant 2.
The calculator gives tan1(1.24) = 51.1. The picture
shows that this means that the angles are = 128.9
and = 308.9 (These values are gotten by taking 51.1
and adding 180 once and once again.)

Example: Find two values

of between 0 and 360 for which
sec() = 4.21

Solution: Since
, this
is exactly the same as saying
that
Since

.
this means that

If we let r = 1 then x = 0.2375. This means that the angles

are in quadrants 2 and 3.
The calculator gives cos1(0.2375) = 103.7
The picture shows that this means that the angles are =
103.7 and = 360 103.7 = 256.3.

Oblique triangles
An oblique triangle is one that doesn't
contain a right angle.
The naming convention for the angles and
sides is that the angle and the side
opposite it have the same letter, as
shown in the picture to the right.
The sine law and cosine law (derived
below) are used to solve oblique triangles

the sine law:

the cosine law:
Note the following points regarding the sine and cosine laws:

If C = 90 then the sin law reduces to

, namely
the definition of the sin, and the cosine law reduces
to c2 = a2 + b2, namely Pythagoras' theorem.
There is nothing special about angles A, B or C. We
could just as well write the sine and cosine laws
as

and

Derivation of The Sine Law

Break the triangle into
2 right triangles by dropping the
perpendicular with length h. Then:
and
Dividing the first equation by the second gives

which is another way to write the sine law.

Derivation of The Cosine Law

Again break the triangle into 2
right triangles. Applying
Pythagoras' theorem to the two
right triangles gives:

Subtracting the second one from the first gives:

This is the cosine law:

How to use the Sin and Cosine Laws

To solve an oblique triangle, a combination of at least 3
angles and sides must be given. The cases are classified SAS,
ASA, ASS, etc. If a side and the angle opposite it are given
then you can use the sin law. Otherwise you must use the
cosine law.
If you are using the sin law to find an angle you will
eventually need to evaluate a sin1. If the angle you are
looking for is acute then the calculator returns the correct
value. But if the angle is obtuse then the angle given by the
calculator is not the correct one. You need the one in the
second quadrant (which can be gotten by subtracting the
calculator angle from 180.) (Recall that an acute angle is
an angle between 0 and 90. An obtuse angle is an angle
between 90 and 180.)

Example: Solve the oblique triangle.

Solution: Since the angles
add to 180:
C = 180 32.5 49.7 =
97.8
Now use the sine law to get
sides b and c:

Solving for b gives

Solving for c gives

The unknown sides and angles are C = 97.8, b = 321 and c =
417.

Example. Ambiguous case: Solve the oblique triangle with

given information
A = 25.3, c = 152 and a = 95.0
Solution: Note that the given info is not enough to decide
whether the triangle is ABC or ABC'. This is called
theASS ambiguity.
If we use the sine
law to get angle C,
we get:

Notice the two values of sin1 give the 2 values of C in the

two possible triangles.
First possibility: C = 43.1 Then B = 180 25.3
43.1 = 111.6 and b comes from the sine law:

 Second possibility: C = 136.9 Then B = 180 25.3

136.9 = 17.8 and b comes from the sine law:

In summary there are two possibilities: either C = 43.1, B =

111.6 and b = 207
or C = 136.9, B = 17.8 and b = 68.1

Example: Solve the oblique triangle shown.

Solution: Since we dont know any side - opposite angle
pair we must begin with the cosine law:

Now find angle B using the sine law:

From the picture it is clear that B is acute and that the

only possibility is that B = 30.2 And therefore A = 127.6

In summary, c = 91.5, B = 30.2 and A = 127.6

Algebra Coach
Exercises

Vectors
Definition: A vector is a quantity that
has magnitude and direction. A scalar is a quantity that
has only magnitude. An example of a vector is force; you can
apply a force in any direction. An example of a scalar is
temperature; it doesnt point in any direction.
A vector is represented by an arrow. The length of the arrow
represents the magnitude of the vector and the direction in
which the arrow points represents the direction of the
vector.
Vectors are usually drawn with their tail at the origin. This
way complete information about the vector is given by the
coordinates of the arrowhead.

Vector Addition: To add vectors A and B graphically, put the

tail of A at the head of B or vice versa. The resulting
vector, A + B, is also drawn with its tail at the origin.
This is called parallelogram construction. A + B is called
the resultant of adding A and B.
Head-to-tail addition is also the way that ordinary numbers
are added. Click here to see the numbers 2 and 3 and their
sum 5.
Vector Subtraction: The negative of a vector B, namely B,
points in the opposite direction.
The vector subtraction A B is equivalent to the vector
addition A + (B).

We will only study 2-dimensional vectors, but mathematicians

use vectors in any number of dimensions.
Resolution of a vector into its components: Resolving a
vector into its x and y components is done by drawing a
dotted line from the arrow-head parallel to the y axis until
it hits the x axis and another dotted line parallel to
the x axis until it hits the y axis, and then drawing vectors
along both axes until they touch these lines.
Coordinate Systems for Vectors: Vectors can be expressed
in polar coordinates or rectangular
coordinates.
In Polar Coordinates the
vectors magnitude and
angle are given directly.
Vector V in the picture is
denoted like this:
V = 2.5 53
is called the angle symbol. The
number in front of the angle symbol is the magnitude or length of the
vector. The number after the angle symbol is the direction of
the vector, expressed as an angle measured
counterclockwise from the positive part of the real
axis.

In Rectangular
Coordinates the x and y coordi
nates of the vectors
arrowhead are given. Now
vector V in the picture is
denoted like this:
V = (1.5, 2)

Resolving a vector expressed in rectangular coordinates into

its x and y components is easy. For example:

Adding two vectors expressed in rectangular coordinates is

also easy. You add the two x components to get the
resultant's x component and add the two y components to get
the resultant's y component. For example, if A = ( 2, 4 ) and
B = ( 3, 1 ), then:
A + B = ( 2, 4 ) + ( 3, 1 ) =
( 5, 5 )
The picture shows that this
works because:
A + B = ( 2, 4 ) + ( 3, 1 )
= ( 2, 0 ) + ( 0, 4 ) + ( 3, 0 )
+ ( 0, 1 )
= ( 2, 0 ) + ( 3, 0 ) + ( 0, 4 )
+ ( 0, 1 )
= ( 5, 0 ) + ( 0, 5 )
= ( 5, 5 )

Converting between Polar and Rectangular Coordinates

Often you must convert a vector expressed in polar
coordinates to rectangular coordinates or vice versa.
Your calculator may have polar to rectangular
(denoted P R or x y ) and rectangular to polar
conversion (denoted R P or r ) built in. See your
calculator manual. If not, you can do the following:

If you are given the

vector r in polar, then in
rectangular it is (x, y) where:

x = r cos()
and y = r sin().
If you are given the vector
(x, y) in rectangular, then in
polar it is r where:

Note that you may have to add 180 if is not in the

first quadrant.

Addition of Polar Vectors

In general there is no simple, direct way to add two polar
vectors. For example it turns out that (see example below):
8 30 + 10 60 = 12.8 21.3
The only exception is if the two vectors lie along the same
line. For example,
1 50 + 2 50 = 3 50
In general, to add two polar vectors
you must:
convert both to rectangular
do the addition while in
rectangular
convert the resultant back to polar

Example: Add the polar vectors 8 30 and 10 60.

Solution:

Applications of Vectors
Statics
If an object is in static equilibrium then the
forces on it must sum to zero. In other words the sum of the
forces to the right equals the sum of the forces to the left

and the forces up equal the forces down.

Example: A weight of W = 510 N is suspended by two ropes at

the angles shown. (N stands for Newtons which are the units
of force in the metric system.)
(a) What are the
tensions T1 and T2 in
the ropes?
(b) If the ropes
have a tensile
strength of 1000
Newtons, what is the
maximum weight that can be supported?
Solution: The forces T1 , T2 and W must be in balance:

Substituting 1.049 T1 in for T2 in the second equation gives:

Thus the tensions are T1 = 678 N and T2 = 711 N.

Part (b): Notice that T2 is the bigger tension. The tensions
are proportional to the weight and when W = 717 N then T2 =
1000 N. Thus the maximum weight that can be supported is 717
N.

Example: A cart with a weight of W = 1250 Newtons is on a

plane inclined at an angle = 13. What minimum
force F must be applied to keep the cart from rolling
downhill, if there is no friction?
Solution: The weight W is due to gravity and so acts
vertically downward. The key is to resolve W into components
parallel to and perpendicular to the inclined plane. The
component of W parallel to the plane is W sin(). F must
equal at least this much or the cart will roll downhill.
Plugging in the numbers we get:
F = W sin() = (1250 N)
sin(13) = 281 N
Thus the minimum force is 281
Newtons.

Applications of Radian Measure

We saw above that angles can be measured in radians, with a
full circle rotation being 2 or approximately 6.28 radians.
The size of an angle in radians equals s (the arc
length subtendend by the angle) divided by r (the radius of
the circle).
For an angle of one full circle the arc length s becomes
the circumference C.
Since C = 2 r we get
for an angle of one full circle.
Note that since s and r have the same
units, the radian is a unitless unit!

Example: Express angle in the picture in radians.

The equilateral triangle has three

angles equal to 60. Bowing out one
side into an arc produces an angle
of 1 radian. We see that 1 radian
is slightly less than 60.

It is often useful to express a radian angle as a multiple of

. To do so, multiply by the symbol and divide by
the value of , namely by 3.14159.

Example: Express
4.22 rads as a
multiple of .

The picture defines the sector, chord and segment.

The area of a circle is:
A = r2
The area of a sector is a
fraction s/C of the area of a
circle, where C is the
circumference. Thus:

Since C = 2 r the area of

the sector is:

Note the similarity to the formula for the area of a

triangle:

Example: What is the distance between a point at latitude

North 43.6 and a point due south of it on the equator? (Use
the fact that the earth has a diameter of 7920 mi.)
Solution: Solving the equation
for the arc length
gives s = r . This formula requires the
radius,
radians:

, and the angle expressed in

Thus the arc length is:

s = r = (3960 mi)(0.7610 rads) =
3010 mi,
to 3 sig figs. Notice that the units
of s are the same as those
of r (miles), since the units
of (radians) are actually unitless.

Example: What distance does the rack gear move if the pinion
gear rotates through an angle of 300?
Solution: Because the rack and pinion gear mesh, the
distance that the rack moves is equal to the arc
length s subtended by the angle 300 on the pinion gear,
which is given by s = r . The radius of the pinion gear is
r = 11.25 mm and the angle through which it
turns expressed in radians is:

Thus:
s = r = (11.25 mm)(5.236 rads) = 58.9
mm.
Notice that the units of s are the same as
those of r, namely millimeters.

Uniform circular motion

Suppose that an object is moving at a
constant velocity v in a circle of
radius r and that it moves from A to B,
covering a distance s, in
time t. Then
since rate = distance
travelled / time required.
As this happens
angle increases. The rate at
which increases is angle
swept out / time required,
namely / t. This quantity is
called the angular
velocity (the Greek letter omega). Thus:
Angular velocity can have any units of angle divided by
time but the most useful units are radians / sec.

Example: An object rotates at an angular velocity of = 48

rads / sec. Through what angle does it rotate in 0.25 sec?
Solution: Solving
for gives:
= t = (48 rads / sec)(0.25 sec) = 12 rads.
(Note that 48 rads / sec = 24 cycles / sec and that 12
rads = 6 cycles)

Example: What is the speed in miles per hour of a point on

the equator and of a point in Vancouver due to the rotation
of the earth? Use the fact that the radius of the earth is
3960 miles, that it rotates once every 24 hours and that
Vancouver is at latitude 49.2 north.
Solution: The first picture on the right looks down on the
north pole and shows how far a point in Vancouver and a point
on the equator move in 1 hr. Both have the same angular
velocity , namely:

but they have different socalled linear

velocities v because they have
different radii from the
earths axis.
To find v use the equation v = r
, where either r = rE for the
equator or r = rV for Vancouver.
We were given rE = 3960 mi. To
find rV use the side-view picture
of the Earth to the right.
Trigonometry gives:

Thus the velocities are:

Thus the speed of a point on the equator is 1037 mi / hr and

of a point in Vancouver is 677 mi / hr due to the rotation of
the earth. (This extra speed is the reason launch sites for
orbital rockets are chosen near the equator.)

Graphs of the sine, cosine and tangent functions

Recall that

,
and
,
where r is the length of a vector
and x and y are its x and y components.
Let r = 1. Then sin() = y and cos()
= x. In other words sin() is just
the y component and cos() is
the x component of a vector of length 1.

The sin function: Let the angle vary from 0 to 2

radians in 8 steps. The vector of length 1 rotates to
positions a through h in the circle below. The vertical
arrows are the y components of the vector in the various
positions. The graph on the right is a plot of
the y component vs , hence a graph of sin() as a
function of .

The circle produced by the vector of length 1 as it

rotates is called the unit circle and we say that the
sine function is generated by the y component of this
rotating vector.
The cos function: Again let the angle vary from 0
to 2 radians in 8 steps. Again the vector of length 1
rotates to positions a through h in the circle below.
The horizontal arrows are the x components of the vector
of length 1 in the various positions. The graph on the
right is a plot of the x component vs , hence a graph
of cos() as a function of .

We say that the cosine function is generated by

the x component of a rotating vector of length 1.

The tan
function: This
graph was drawn by
calculating the
ratio y/x for
various values
of .
Note that tan(/2)
= and
tan(3/2) =
since x equals 0
(causing a division
by 0) at those
angles.
Note the following features of all three curves:
The axis for all three of the above graphs could use
degrees. Just replace radians with 180, etc.
sin(), cos() and tan() are periodic functions this means that they repeat their patterns for < 0
and > 2 radians. The functions sin() and cos()
have period 2 radians since they repeat every 2
radians. The function tan() has period radians
since it repeats every radians.

The Sinusoidal Function y = A sin( t + )

Waves on the water, vibrations on a string, sound, light,
animal population cycles, economic cycles and alternating
current can all be described by the sinusoidal
function or wave function:
y = A sin( t + )
where y represents the quantity of interest and t represents
time. Because y is proportional to the sin function, it has
the characteristic sin wave shape. By
changing A, and we can change the height or width of
the wave or shift it left or right to suit the application.
Lets look at each of these parameters, A, and , in
turn:

In the function y = A sin( t + ), the parameter A is

called the amplitude of the wave. The sin function
itself ranges from 1 to +1 without units. Multiplying
the sin wave by A causes y to stretch vertically from
A to +A with the units of A.

In the function y = A sin( t + ), the

parameter is called the angular velocity of the
wave.
(Note: This is the greek letter omega, not the
ordinary letter w.)

 refers to the rate of rotation of the rotating vector

which generates the wave. It has units of radians/sec.
The figure compares = 1 rad/sec and = 4 rad/sec.
The wave sin(4t) oscillates 4 times as fast as the wave
sin(t).
An algebraic way to see why = 4 compresses the wave
horizontally by a factor of 4 is to note that in
sin(4t), t needs to be only as big as it needs to be
in sin(t) to yield the same value in the brackets. When
the value in the brackets equals 2 radians, the sin
function completes one cycle.
Related to angular velocity are the frequency f and the
period T.
o The frequency is the number of cycles of the wave
that occur per second. Because there are 2
radians in 1 cycle, angular velocity and frequency
are related by the formula:

= 2 f.
The units of f are cycles/sec or Hertz.
o The period is the time in seconds required to
complete one cycle. It is the reciprocal of the
frequency:

The units of T are seconds. Because = 2

f this can also be written as:

 In the
function y = A sin(
t + ), the
parameter is
called the phase
angle of the wave.
(Note: This is the
greek letter
phi, which is
pronounced fi and which rhymes with cry.)
If is positive then the wave is shifted to the left.
If is negative then the wave is shifted to the
right. may be given in radians or degrees.

How much is the

wave shifted? That
depends
on both and .
The example to the
right shows that
the starting point
of the wave on
the t axis is not simply the value of the phase
angle , which many beginning students believe to be
true.
To understand how and act together to cause the
shift to the left or right, think of sin ( ) as
a function machine. An angle goes into the brackets ( )
and a point on the sin curve comes out. When 0 goes into
the brackets the beginning of a cycle comes out and when
2 radians goes into the brackets the end of the cycle
comes out.

For the above example, y = sin(4t+1), a

cycle begins when there is 0 inside the brackets, namely

when t = .
For the example y = sin(4t) above, a cycle ends when
there is 2 inside the brackets, namely when 4t = 2
or (solving for t) when t = /2.
If we imagine that the sinusoidal curve is generated by
a rotating vector then can be though of as the angle
at which the rotating vector points initially, that is,
at time t = 0.
Here are some special phase angles:

= 2 rads or 360. The wave is shifted left by one

complete cycle, so the wave appears unchanged.
= rads or 180. The wave is shifted left by half a
cycle, so the wave appears to be turned upside-down.
= /2 rads or 90. The wave is shifted left by one
quarter of a cycle, so that, for example, a sin wave
becomes a cosine wave.

Finding the Equation of a Sinusoidal Curve

To find the equation of a sinusoidal curve follow these
steps:
Begin by writing down the template
equation y = A sin( t + ) (assuming that the label
on the vertical axis is y and the label on the
horizontal axis is t). Then use the next three steps to
get A, and .
Get the amplitude A by reading the peak value of the
curve from the vertical axis. Get the units of A from
the label on the vertical axis.
Read tB and tE , the values of the time t at the
beginning and the end of the cycle. The period T is the
difference tE tB. Then calculate angular
velocity from the equation

 Get phase angle by using the fact that the quantity

in brackets, t + , must equal zero when t = tB, at
the beginning of a cycle.

Example: Find the equation of the sinusoidal wave shown to

the right. This represents an alternating voltage. v is the
voltage in volts and t is the time in seconds.
Solution:
The vertical axis
is labelled v.
Thus the template
equation is:

v = A sin( t +
)
The amplitude is A = 7 volts.
The cycle begins at tB = 1 sec and ends at tE = 5 sec.
Thus the period is T = tE tB = 6 sec and the angular
velocity is:

The equation at this point is

. To find
the only remaining unknown parameter, namely the phase
angle , use the fact that the brackets must contain 0
at time t = 1:

Thus the equation is

Note: Another way to find the phase angle is to

notice that the wave is shifted left by 1/6 cycle. Since

there are 360 or 2 radians in a cycle, this means

that

Drawing the Graph of a Sinusoidal Function

To draw the graph of a sinusoidal function follow these
steps:
Begin by labelling the vertical axis y and the
horizontal axis t, assuming that the equation
is y = A sin( t + ).
Get tB, the time of the beginning of the cycle, by using
the fact that the quantity in brackets, t + , must
equal 0 when t = tB.
Get tE, the time of the end of the cycle, by using the
fact that the quantity in brackets, t + , must
equal 2 when t = tE.
Place a box stretching from tB to tE on the horizontal
axis and from A to +A on the vertical axis. Label the
edges of the box.
Draw one cycle of the sin curve to fill the box.

Example: Graph the function

volts and t is in seconds.

, where v is in

Solution: Since the first term inside the brackets,

namely
, is in radians we must change the second term,
60, to /3 radians to make the units agree. Thus we will
graph

 Place a box
stretching from
3 to +15 in the
horizontal
direction and from
12 to +12 in the
vertical
direction. Label
the edges of the box.

Break the box into

four sub-boxes and
use them to
outline the
sinusoidal curve
(the red dots).

Draw the
sinusoidal curve
by smoothly
connecting the
dots.