TIGONOMETRY

According to Math Is Fun n/d trigonometry (from Greek trigonon "triangle" + metron
"measure"). Trigonometry is all about triangles. Trigonometry helps us find angles and
distances, and is used a lot in science, engineering, video games, and more!
Right-Angled Triangle
The triangle of most interest is the right-angled triangle. The right angle is shown by
the little box in the corner:

Another angle is often labeled θ (Theta), and the three sides are then called:
Adjacent: adjacent (next to) the angle θ
Opposite: opposite the angle θ
Hypotenuse: the longest side

Fact: the adjacent side is always lying at the X-axis while the opposite side is Y-Axis
no matter where the reference angle is.

Sine, Cosine and Tangent

The main functions in trigonometry are Sine, Cosine and Tangent
They are simply one side of a right-angled triangle divided by another.
For any angle "θ".
(Sine, Cosine and Tangent are often abbreviated to Sin, Cos and Tan.)

Sin= opposite / hypotenuse

Cos= adjacent / hypotenuse
Tan= opposite / adjacent

-You can use the mnemonics

Sin Opposite / Hypotenuse
Cos Adjacent / Hypotenuse
Tan Opposite / Adjacent

Similar to Sine, Cosine and Tangent, there are three other trigonometric
functions which are made by dividing one side by another:

Cosecant Function: csc(θ) = Hypotenuse / Opposite

Secant Function: sec(θ) = Hypotenuse / Adjacent

Cotangent Function: cot(θ) = Adjacent / Opposite

Which is basically the opposite of Sin, Cosine, and Tangent.

Reference angle
Basically, any angle on the x-y plane has a reference angle, which is always between 0
and 90 degrees. The reference angle is always the smallest angle that you can make
from the terminal side of an angle (ie where the angle ends) with the x-axis.
A reference angle always uses the x-axis as its frame of reference.

The initial side is where the angle starts and the terminal side is the ray where the
measurement of the angle stops, therefore the terminal side defines the angle and if
the vertex is at the origin (0, 0) then the angle will be in Standard Position. Math
Warehouse n/d.

Positive angles go in a counter clockwise direction.

Quadrant I
Every positive angle in quadrant I is already acute...so the reference angle is the
measure of the angle itself:
Quadrant II
To find the reference angle measuring x ° for angle in Quadrant III, the formula
is 180−x∘

Quadrant III
To find the reference angle measuring x ° for angle in Quadrant III, the formula
is x−180

Quadrant IV
To find the reference angle measuring x ° for angle in Quadrant IV, the formula
is 360∘−x
Coterminal angles
Coterminal Angles are angles who share the same initial side and terminal sides.
Finding coterminal angles is as simple as adding or subtracting 360° or 2π to each
angle, depending on whether the given angle is in degrees or radians. There are an
infinite number of coterminal angles that can be found. Following this procedure, all
coterminal angles can be found.

Example:
Find one positive angle that is coterminal to 50°.
Since the terminal side of a 50° angle resides in quadrant I, the terminal side of its
coterminal angle must share that side. This means the new angle would make one
complete revolution (which is equal to 360) before having its terminal side come to
rest at the same place.
Therefore, to find the coterminal angle to a 50° angle, just add 360°.
-50° + 360° = 410°

Below is the graphical representation of a 50° angle. Since its coterminal angle must
share the same terminal side, it is reasonable to create a new angle that makes one
complete revolution and ends up in the same place.
To find the coterminal angle of a 50° angle, add 360°. In the figure below, it is shown
that the new angle made one complete revolution and ended up in the terminal side of
the initial angle which is 50°. It would follow that 50°+360°=410°. A 410° angle is
illustrated below. From the graphical representation of the angle, we can conclude that
these two angle do indeed share the same terminal side, meaning they are coterminal.

Radian
Radian: the angle made when we take the radius
and wrap it round the circle.

Radians are often used in trigonometry to represent angle measures. Radian measures
are very common in calculus, so it is important to have an understanding of what a
radian is.

1 Radian is about 57.2958 degrees.

Radians to degree
The measure of an angle is determined by the amount of rotation from the initial side
to the terminal side. In radians, one complete counterclockwise revolution is 2π and in
degrees, one complete counterclockwise revolution is 360°

The general formula for converting from radians to degrees to simply multiply the
number of degree by 180 / P

You can cancel the pi rad and you will be left with 180/4 which is equal to 45 degrees.

Degree to radian

The general formula for converting from degrees to radians is to simply multiply the
number of degrees by P /180.
Example:

When you multiply the given it will give you , after that you can cancel 60°
and 180° and then you will get 1/3 or /3.
Table of equivalent values

Special Triangles
special right triangle is a right triangle whose sides are in a particular ratio, called the
Pythagorean Triples.

What is a 45°-45°-90° Triangle?

A 45°-45°-90° triangle is a special right triangle whose angles are 45°, 45° and 90°.

The congruent sides or the legs are congruent. The ratio of this special triangle is
always 1:1: √2. Why Is that so? Well you will find out in a while…
Finding the unknown side of the triangle:

Type 1: You’re given one leg.

Because you know both legs are equal, you know the length of both the legs. You can
find the hypotenuse by multiplying this length by the square root of 2.
Type 2: You’re given the hypotenuse.
Divide the hypotenuse by the square root of 2 to find the legs (which are equal).

The second method is using Pythagorean theorem.

Example:

Find the hypotenuse given that a = 1.

We know that…

c²= a²+b² - Pythagorean theorem

- And in a 45 45 90 Special triangles we know that the legs are congruent so the
formula will look like this…

c²= a²+a²

Base from the illustration above.

- After that, substitute the given.

c²= 1²+1²
c= √1+1
c= √2
What is a 30°-60°-90° Triangle?
Another type of special right triangles is the 30°-60°-90° triangle. This is right triangle
whose angles are 30°-60°-90°.

In the image shown above it is shown that the Adjacent side is 1, the opposite is ✓3,
and the hypotenuse is 2. In clarification, the ratio is always 1:2: √3.
Finding unknown side of the triangle.

Using Pythagorean theorem

Example:

Find the hypotenuse given that a = 4 and b = 2.

We know that…

c²= a²+b² - Pythagorean theorem

Substitute the given

 c²= 4²+2²

√c= √4+2

c= 2√2

- Also always remember that when you illustrate the triangle the angle is near the
origin, and the triangle is facing outward not inward.
 6 trigonometric functions
There are six main trigonometric functions:
Sine (sin)
Cosine (cos)
Tangent (tan)
Secant (sec)
Cosecant (csc)
Cotangent (cot)

These functions are used to relate the angles of a triangle with the sides of that
triangle.
Finding the 6 Trigonometric Functions
Case 1

We’re gonna use this as an example.

All you have to do in finding the 6 Trigonometric functions is to substitute the given in
the formula in figure 1.
- We know that

Figure 1.
- So now we substitute the given
 - After that we simplify terms.

- In addition to this, if there is an unknown side you can use Pythagorean

Theorem to solve the side and then use this method to solve the 6
Trigonometric Functions.

Case 2
If you’re Given a specific quadrant.
There are cases where you are given the sides and a specific quadrant and you have to
give all 6 Trigonometric Functions.
Example:
Find the 6 trigonometric functions given that the reference angle is 60° and it is in the
2nd Quadtrant.
Now if we illustrate this problem it would look like this
After that, with the illustration we know that this is can be a 30 60 90 Special triangle,
and without the sides we will use the 1:2:√3 ratio.

- After that, we solve.

As you can see here, Sin and Csc are the only
positive sign the rest are negative. Therefore,
if there is a given quadrant there will be a
difference in signs.

As you can see In the illustration below, this will help you take note on what are the
signs of the 6 trigonometric functions on each quadrant.
 Verifying Trigonometric Identities
An "identity" is a tautology, an equation or statement that is always true, no matter
what. For instance, 𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝑥) = 1/𝑐𝑠𝑐(𝑥) is an identity. To "prove" or “verify” an
identity, you have to use logical steps to show that one side of the equation can be
transformed into the other side of the equation.

Before we go into solving, this chart will help you remember the different identities.

Trigonometric Identities

Reciprocal Identities
1 1 1
𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 = 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 =
𝑐𝑜𝑡𝜃 𝑐𝑠𝑐𝜃 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃

1 1 1
𝑐𝑜𝑡𝜃 = 𝑐𝑠𝑐𝜃 = 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃 =
𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃

Quotient Identities
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝑐𝑠𝑐𝜃
𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 = ; 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 = ; 𝑐𝑜𝑡𝜃 = ; 𝑐𝑜𝑡 =
𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝑐𝑠𝑐𝜃 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃

Pythagorean Identities
𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝜃 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜃 = 1 𝑡𝑎𝑛2 𝜃 − 1 = 𝑠𝑒𝑐 2 𝜃

1 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠²𝜃 = 𝑐𝑠𝑐²𝜃

Negative Angle Identities

sin(−𝜃) = −𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 ; cos(−𝜃) = cos ; tan(−𝜃) = −𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃

Cofunction Identities
cot(90° − 𝜃) = sin 𝜃 ; tan(90° − 𝜃) = 𝑐𝑜𝑡𝜃 ; sec(90° − 𝜃) = 𝑐𝑠𝑐𝜃

sin(90° − 𝜃) = 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 ; cot(90° − 𝜃) = 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 ; csc(90° − 𝜃) = 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃

Sum and difference

Identities cos( 𝐴 + 𝐵) = 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝐴𝑐𝑜𝑠𝐵 ± 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝐴𝑠𝑖𝑛𝐵

sin( 𝐴 + 𝐵) = 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝐴𝑐𝑜𝑠𝐵 ± 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝐴𝑠𝑖𝑛𝐵

𝑡𝑎𝑛𝐴 ± 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝐵
cos( 𝐴 + 𝐵) =
1 + 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝐴𝑡𝑎𝑛𝐵
Now that we have the set of Identities let us have the Verifying of Trigonometric
Identities.
Examples
1
Let us prove that 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 = 𝑐𝑜𝑡𝜃

When proving identities, you should only focus on one side of the problem. Like for
1
example in 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 = 𝑐𝑜𝑡𝜃 let us focus on the right side.
1
- We know that 𝑐𝑜𝑡𝜃 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 so we can replace the 𝑐𝑜𝑡𝜃 in the denominator.
1
- It will look like = 1
𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃
1
- After that we multiply the reciprocal of to 1.
𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃
𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃
- 1 × = 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃
1
- 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 ✓

Let us try other identities.

𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃
Let us prove that 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃

- Let us focus on the right side of the problem.

1 1
- We know that 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 = 𝑐𝑠𝑐𝜃 and 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃 and after that we substitute.
1
- = 𝑐𝑠𝑐𝜃
1
𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃
- After that we solve
1 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃
- × – Cancel
𝑐𝑠𝑐𝜃 1
𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝜃
- The final answer will be , and we know that 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 = 𝑐𝑠𝑐𝜃 so therefore
𝑐𝑠𝑐𝜃
- 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 ✓

Cofunction Identities – for cofunction identities all you have to do is to subtract the
given angle to 90°.
Sum and difference Identities

Example

Use a sum or difference identity to find the exact value of cos(75°) without a calculator.
To work this, we look at the 75° to see if it's the sum or difference of any angles from
our reference triangles.
We see that 75° = 30° + 45°.
So:
cos(75°) = cos(30° + 45°)
We can use the cosine sum identity.
cos(α + β) = cos(α)cos(β) – sin(α)sin(β)
cos(30° + 45°) = cos(30°)cos(45°) – sin(30°)sin(45°)
Now plug in values from your reference triangles. (Oh, it's them again.)

And the answer is: