Practice for Exam #2

1. A water sprinkler sprays water a distance of 20 feet and rotates through an angle of 120◦ .
Determine how much area is watered by the sprinkler.

It’s a good idea to draw a picture of the situation here. First, draw a circle and the angle 120◦ .
Label the radius of the circle 20 feet. The angle determines a portion, or sector of this circle. The
area of this sector is the area which is watered by the sprinkler. (Think of the sprinkler as being
at the center of the circle. As the sprinkler rotates, the water sweeps over this sector of the circle.)
So what is this area? The area of the entire circle is given by the formula A = πr2 . Here
r = 20, so the area of the entire circle is 400π. But we only want part of this area. What part,
exactly? Well, rotating 360◦ gives the whole circle, so rotating 120◦ gives one third of the circle
120
(since 360 = 31 ). The area watered is thus one third of 400π, or 400π
3 .

2. Suppose θ is an acute angle and sec θ = 4. Find the values of the remaining five trigonometric
functions.

It’s a very good idea here to draw the appropriate right triangle. The secant is the reciprocal
of the cosine, and SOH CAH TOA reminds us that the cosine is the adjacent over the hypotenuse.
Using sec θ = 4 tells us that cos θ = 1/4, so label the hypotenuse 4 and the adjacent side 1. The
Pythagorean theorem can be used to find the opposite side. For now, call the opposite side x. Then

x2 + 12 = 42

x2 = 42 − 12

x2 = 15
√
x = 15
√
(because x is positive). Now label the opposite side 15. From SOH CAH TOA and our triangle,
√ √
you see that sin θ = 15/4 and tan θ = 15/1. Finally, since cotangent is the reciprocal of tangent
√ √
and cosecant is the reciprocal of sine, cot θ = 4/ 15 and csc θ = 4/ 15.

3. Draw the unit circle and the angle 5π/4. Determine the values of the six trigonometric

1
functions at this angle. Also, convert 5π/4 radians to degrees.

Hopefully you are able to draw the unit circle and the angle 5π/4. The corresponding acute
angle to work with is π/4, which gets you the point on the circle exactly opposite (antipodal) the
√
point you get from 5π/4. You’re supposed to just plain know that sin(π/4) = cos(π/4) = 1/ 2.
Remember that the cosine is the first coordinate and the sine is the second coordinate of the point on
√
the unit circle. Looking at your picture, you should now see that cos(5π/4) = sin(5π/4) = −1/ 2.
Using these values and the equations

sin θ cos θ 1 1
tan θ = cot θ = sec θ = csc θ =
cos θ sin θ cos θ sin θ

gives you the other trig. values.

Finally, to convert from radians to degrees, you multiply by 180/π. So 5π/4 radians is

5π 180 5π180
= = 5 × 45 = 225
4 π 4π

degrees.

4. For what numbers x, −2π ≤ x ≤ 2π is csc x = 2?

1
I think the best way to do this problem is to change the equation csc x = 2 to sin x = 2, i.e.,
1
sin x = 2 (remember that cosecant is the reciprocal of sine). When is the sine equal to 1/2? This
happens at the angle π/6 in the first quadrant, and 5π/6 in the second quadrant. So x = π/6 and
x = 5π/6 are two numbers which work. But we’re supposed to find the solutions between −2π and
2π, so −7π/6 and −11π/6 are also solutions. (These negative angles get you the same point on the
unit circle as the angles 5π/6 and π/6, respectively.)

1
− π4 ) . What are the amplitude, period and


5. Use transformations to graph y = 2 sin 2 (x

phase shift here?

Start with the graph of y = sin x. Then multiply the vertical scales by 2 and divide the
horizontal scales by 1/2. You now have the graph of y = 2 sin( 12 x). Finally, you need to shift this
graph to the right by π/4.

2
 2π
The amplitude is 2, the period is 1/2 (= 4π), and the phase shift is π/4.

6. Is sin−1 sin(π/2) = π/2? Why or why not?

Yep, they’re the same thing, alright. Why? One answer is to say sin(π/2) = 1 and sin−1 (1) =
π/2. In general, since sin−1 and sin are inverses of each other, sin−1 sin(θ) = θ whenever θ is

between −π/2 and π/2 (because that’s the part of the sine graph that was one-to-one; where we
inverted sine).

7. Find the exact value of tan sin−1 (1/4) . Draw and label the appropriate right triangle to

support your answer.

Using sin θ = 1/4 and SOH CAH TOA, you draw a right triangle with opposite side 1 and
hypotenuse 4. Use the Pythagorean Theorem like we did in #2 above to find that the adjacent
√ √
side is 15. One last use of SOH CAH TOA tells you that the tangent is 1/ 15.