LESSON 13 - TRIGNOMETRY(1)

1. Trigonometric Functions

The six trigonometric functions are called sine, cosine, tangent,

cosecant, secant, and cotangent. Their domain consists of real
numbers, but they only have practical purposes when these real
numbers are angle measures.
Consider an angle θ in standard position. Take a point P anywhere
on the terminal side of the angle. Let P have coordinates (x, y) and
distance d from the origin. The distance d of a point from the origin is
the same as the magnitude of the vector with the same coordinates:
. The trigonometric functions are as follows:

sine(θ) = sin(θ) =    

cosine(θ) = cos(θ) =    

tangent(θ) = tan(θ) =    

   
cosecant(θ) = csc(θ) =

secant(θ) = sec(θ) =    

cotangent(θ) = cot(θ) =    

When a given angle, θ , is the input for a trigonometric function, like
sine, one says, "The sine of θ equals..."
Notice that the following pairs of trigonometric functions are
reciprocals of one another: sine and cosecant, cosine and secant,
and tangent and cotangent. Also, notice that the values of the
trigonometric functions can be either positive or negative because x-
coordinates and y-coordinates can also be either positive or negative.

2. Graphs

Below are the graphs of the six trigonometric functions: sine, cosine,
tangent, cosecant, secant, and cotangent. On the $x$-axis are values
of the angle in radians, and on the $y$-axis is f (x) , the value of the
function at each given angle.

Figure %: Graphs of the six trigonometric functions

3. Trigonometric equations

A trigonometric equation is any equation that contains a trigonometric

function. Up until now we have introduced trigonometric functions, but
not fully explore them.

As mentioned in Trigonometric Identities, a trigonometric equation

that holds true for any angle is called a trigonometric identity. There
are other equations, though, that only are true for certain angles.
They are generally known as conditional equations, but in this text
we'll just call them equations. We'll learn some techniques for solving
general equations, as well as how to derive an infinite number of
solutions to an equation based on a single solution to that equation.
Only a few simple trigonometric equations can be easily solved
without a calculator. Often one might encounter an equation like
tan(x) = 3.2 . Such an equation has no simple answer that can be
memorized. It would be tedious to use a calculator and try numerous
values for x until you found one that gave a solution close to 3.2 . For
problems like these, the inverse trigonometric functions are helpful.
The inverse trigonometric functions are the same as the trigonometric
functions, except x and y are reversed. For example, another way to
say sin(y) = x is y = arcsin(x) . The arcsine relation is not a function,
though, because it assigns more than one element of the range to
each element of the domain. For example, sin(y) = has solutions of
y = 30 degrees, 150 degrees, 390 degrees, and so on. When the
range is restricted, however, then arcsine is a function, and is written
with a capital letter, Arcsine. Using the inverse trigonometric
functions, it becomes possible (with a calculator) to solve nearly any
trigonometric equation without difficulty.
Question/Answer Session

Q1. The terminal side of angle θ in standard position contains the point (7,24). What is sin(θ)
Ans. 24/25

Q2. Which trigonometric functions are independent of the distance between a point and the origin (when the terminal side
of an angle in standard position contains that point)?

Ans. Tangent and cotangent

Q3. The point (0,0) lies on the graphs of which functions?

Ans. Sine and tangent

Q4. For which functions are the values between -1 and 1 not in the range?

Ans. Secant and cosecant