Pre-Calculus

Chapter 3: trigonometry
Prepared by: Ms. Pinky Ravina-Prudente

ANGLE

 a figure formed by two rays with a common endpoint known as the vertex.
 Angle in Standard Position is an angle which has its vertex at the origin, and one side lying on the positive
x-axis. The ray on the x-axis is called the initial side and the other ray is called the terminal side.

vertex

 Positive angles are determined by a counterclockwise direction.

 Negative angles are determined by a clockwise direction.
 Capital letters such as A, B, C or Greek letters such as  (theta) or  (beta) are often used to name angles.

 The measure of an angle is determined by the

amount of rotation from the initial side to the
terminal side.
The two commonly used units of measurement for angles are degrees and radians.

COTERMINAL ANGLES

- angles that have the same initial and terminal sides.

- In the figure below, 30 is coterminal with -330, 390, and 330.

 To find a positive and a negative angle coterminal with a given angle, you can add and subtract 360°.
1
THE DEGREE MEASURE

We often measure degrees using a protractor. The normal protractor measures 0° to 180°:

To measure an angle in degrees, we imagine the circumference of a circle divided into 360 equal parts,
and we call each of those equal parts a “degree”. Thus, a measure of one degree (1°) is equivalent to a
1
rotation of  360  of a complete revolution.  Fractions of a degree are given in minutes and seconds. Hence,

1 = 60 , 1 = 60 , 1 = 3600

THE RADIAN MEASURE

 In radian measurement, the measure of one revolution is 2.

 To define a radian, use a central angle of a circle (an angle whose vertex is the
center of the circle).  One radian is the measure of a central angle that intercepts
an arc S equal in length to the radius r of the circle.

 = 1 radian  = 2 radians

 Note that, 2rad = 360, so  rad = 180

( )
°
π 180
rad
1 = 180 and 1 rad = π
We can now use these relationships to convert degrees to radians and vice versa. We have the following
conversion rules:

To convert from To convert from

degrees to radians: radians to degrees:
π rad 180 °
Multiply by 180 ° Multiply by π rad 2
  Examples: 1) Convert the following to exact radian measures in lowest terms:

a) 45
b) 210

2) Convert the following to exact degree measure:

π
rad
a) 10
2π
rad
b) 5

ARC LENGTH OF A CIRCLE

 An arc of a circle is a "portion" of the circumference of the circle. The length of an arc (or arc length) is
traditionally symbolized by s.

 A central angle is an angle where the vertex is the center of the circle and whose sides are radii of the circle.
If a central angle  intercepts an arc of length s on a circle of radian r, then

s = r where  is in radians

Example: Find the length of each arc.

2)
1)

THE 6 TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS OF ANGLES IN STANDARD POSITION

Consider an angle  in standard position (see figure below). Let us choose any point (x,y) on the terminal side
of  and let r be the distance of (x,y) from (0,0). Since distance is never negative, r > 0. r is calculated using the

Pythagorean Theorem (which we will discuss later) to arrive at r = √

x2 + y 2 .

3
Note that there are three important values relative to P on the terminal side of angle : the x-coordinate of P, the y-
coordinate of P, and the distance r from the origin to P. For a given angle , six ratios can be formed using the three
x y y x r r
, , , , ,
values: r r x y x y . These six ratios are functions of the angle  and are called the trigonometric functions.
The names given to these six ratios are as follows:

y r
sine  = sin  = r cosecant  = csc  = y
x r
cosine  = cos  = r secant  = sec  = x
y x
tangent  = tan  = x cotangent  = cot  = y

Example: The following points are on the terminal side of the angle  in standard position. Find the six
trigonometric functions of 
.
1) (-5, 12)
2) (-2, √5 )
QUADRANT SIGNS OF THE 6 TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS

Quadrant I Quadrant II Quadrant III Quadrant IV

x=+ x= x= x=+
y=+ y=+ y= y=
r=+ r=+ r=+ r=+
Sin  = + Sin  = + Sin  =  Sin  = 
Cos  = + Cos  =  Cos  =  Cos  = +
Tan  = + Tan  =  Tan  = + Tan  = 
Cot  = + Cot  =  Cot  = + Cot  = 
Sec  = + Sec  =  Sec  =  Sec  = +
Csc  = + Csc  = + Csc  =  Csc  = 

To summarize simply, we have the following chart for the positive functions in each quadrant.

4
THE UNIT CIRCLE

 Unit Circle – circle whose radius is equal to 1 unit (r = 1)

QUADRANTAL ANGLES
 an angle in standard position with terminal side lying on the x-axis or y-axis.
Examples of quadrantal angles are 0, 90, 180, 270, 360, 450, 540, etc.
 Based on the unit circle above, we find the six trigonometric functions of the following quadrantal angles:

0 90 180 270 360

Sin 0 1 0 1 0
Cos 1 0 1 0 1
Tan 0 undefined 0 undefined 0
Cot undefined 0 Undefined 0 undefined
Sec 1 undefined 1 undefined 1
Csc undefined 1 undefined 1 undefined

GRAPHS OF TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS

 Recall:
0 = 0 rad
π
90 = 2 rad
180 =  rad
3π
270 = 2 rad
360 = 2 rad

A. The Sine Graph B. The Cosine Graph

The graph of y = sin x is: The graph of y = cos x is:

5
 1 period 1 period 1 period 1 period

 One period represents one cycle of the sine or cosine curve. Each period is equal to 2.
 Five key points in one period of each graph: the intercepts, maximum points, and minimum points.

 AMPLITUDE

- the “height” of the graph

- represents half the distance of the maximum and the minimum values of the function

The amplitude of y = a sinx and y = a cos x is a (read as “absolute value of a”).

Example: Graph the following over 1 period:

a) y = 3 sin x c) y = 2 sin 2x e) y = 5 cos 3x
1 2x
b) y = -2 sin x d) y = 4sin 2 x f) y =-2 cos 3
GRAPHS OF TANGENT AND COTANGENT

GRAPHS OF SECANT AND COSECANT

6
GRAPHING SINES AND COSINES y = asin bx, y = acos bx

Steps:
1. Determine the amplitude (a).
2. Compute for the period (the last x) using the formula P = , or, equate the angle to
and solve for x.
3. Find the second x by dividing P by 4.

Graph over 1 period:

1) y = 2sin 2x
1
x
2) y = 4sin 2
3) y = 5 cos 3x
2x
4) y = -2 cos 5

THE TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS OF THE ACUTE ANGLES OF A RIGHT TRIANGLE

The general relationship between the sides and angles of ABC is found below:

A B
Opposite side a b
Adjacent side b a
Hypotenuse c c

o Keep in mind that the labels “opposite” and “adjacent” depend on which angle you are talking
about. The adjacent side is the leg that is part of the angle; the opposite side is the leg that
is not part of the angle.

This time let us define the six trigonometric functions of the acute angles of a right triangle. The definitions
are as follows:

7
  The six ratios or functions are usually thought of as two groups of three functions. The first group is:
 

 
 This should remind you of SOH-CAH-TOA.

 The second group is:

 If you compare these three ratios to the three above them, you’ll see that these three fractions are the
reciprocals of the three fractions above them.

 Examples:

1. Draw BED with E as the right angle. If side b = 5 and side e = √ 11 find the exact values of the six
trigonometric functions of D.
2. Draw CAT with A as the right angle. cot C = √ 3 , find the exact values of the following:
a. Sin C
b. Sec T
c. Tan T
d. Csc C

SPECIAL ANGLES

There are three special angles. They are 30o, 45o and 60o. The “special” nature of these angles is their ability
to yield exact answers instead of decimal approximations when dealing with trigonometric functions.
Consider an equilateral triangle with side of length 2 (see Fig. 1). Each of the three angles measures 60 o. If a
line segment is drawn from one vertex forming a right angle on the opposite side, the triangle is split into two 30-60-
90o triangles. In Fig. 2 is a square with side of length 1. By drawing the diagonal, the square is divided into two 45-
45-90 triangles.

Fig 1. Fig 2.

Using the figures above, we find the six trigonometric

functions of 30, 60, and 45 as follows:

8
REFERENCE ANGLES

For any given angle, its reference angle is an acute version of that angle. In standard position, the reference
angle is the smallest angle between the terminal side and the x-axis. The values of the trig functions of angle  are
the same as the trig values of the reference angle for , give or take a minus sign.

I II III IV
(Reference )
30 150 210 330
60 120 240 300
45 135 225 315

Examples:

Find the exact values:

1) Sin 225
2) Cos 300
3) Cot 150

TRIGONOMETRIC IDENTITIES

 IDENTITY - an equality that is true for any value of the variable. (An equation is an equality that is true only
for certain values of the variable.)

 THE 8 FUNDAMENTAL TRIGONOMETRIC IDENTITIES

1. sin A csc A = 1
1
csc A=
sin A
1
sin A=
csc A
2. cos A sec A = 1 Reciprocal Identities
1
sec A=
cos A
9
 1
cos A=
sec A
3. tan A cot A = 1
sin A
4. tan A = cos A
cos A
5. cot A = sin A Quotient Identities
6. 2 2
sin A + cos A = 1
cos2A = 1 - sin2A
sin2A = 1 - cos2A Pythagorean Identities
7. 2
tan A + 1 = sec A 2

8. cot2A + 1 = csc2A

Simplify the following:

1) tanAcosA
2) secA cotA sinA
csc A
3) sec A
sec 2 A−1
1+ tan2 A
4)

VERIFYING IDENTITIES

To verify whether a trigonometric equation is an identity, we usually work on the more

complicated side and make it identical to the other side. The following are some techniques that
you can use.

A. Express all functions in terms of sine and cosine.

Example: Verify the following:

2
1−cos A
=sin 2 A cos 2 A
1. cotAcosAtanAcsc A = cot A 2. 1+ tan 2 A
cos A sin A 1
cos A
sin A cos A sin A = =
cos A
sin A =

cot A = cot A
sin2Acos2A = sin2Acos2A

B. Multiply or use the Distributive Property.

Example: Verify the following:
1. tanA (cotA + tanA) = sec 2 A 2. (1 + sinA) (1-sinA) = cos2A
tanA cotA + tan2A = =
1 + tan2A =

10
 sec2A = sec2A cos2A = cos2A

C. Separate the fractions.

Example: Verify the following:
2 3
sin A cos A+ cos A−cos A+ sin A sin A + tan A
=tan A =1+sec A
1. cos A 2. sin A
2 3
sin A cos A cos A cos A sin A
+ − +
cos A cos A cos A cos A = =
sin A
sin A + cos A – 1 + cos A =
2 2

1 – 1 + tan A =
tanA = tanA 1 + secA = 1 + secA

D. Find the LCD (Least Common Denominator) and combine fractions.

Example: Verify the following:
1. sec A = sinAtanA + cosA 2. sinAtanA = secA - cosA

Sum and Difference Formulas:

Double Angle Identities Half-Angle Identities

or

Problems:

11
 1) Find the exact value of the following without using calculators:
a) Sin 75
b) Cos (-15)
c) Cos 40cos50 - sin 40sin 50
d) Sin 35cos 5 - cos 35sin 5
tan 46∘+tan14 ∘
∘ ∘
e) 1−tan 46 tan 14

2) Prove the following:

a) (sinx + cosx)2 = sin 2x + 1
b) cos 2A = cos4A – Sin4 A
2 tan A
=sin 2 A
c) 1+tan 2 A
sin 2 A cos 2 A
− =sec A
d) sin A cos A

3) Find the exact value:

a) Cos 15
b) Tan 22.5
c) Sin 105

INVERSE TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS

If x = sin y, then y is an angle whose sine is x, written as y = sin -1 x (“y equals the inverse sine of x”)

x = sin y y = sin-1 x or y = arcsin x

x = cos y y = cos-1 x or y = arccos x
x = tan y y = tan-1 x or y = arctan x

Note: Inverse trigonometric functions are angles.

PRINCIPAL VALUES
For the function  y = arcsin x  to be single-valued, we must restrict the values of the angle y.   We will restrict them to
those angles that have the smallest absolute value. They are called the principal values of arcsin x.

Function Range

y = Arcsin x -90  y  90

y = Arcos x 0  y  180
y = Arctan x -90 < y < 90
P
Example:

Find y in degrees. Find the principal value of each of the following.

√3
1) Arcsin 2
−1
2) Arcos 2

12
 −
√3
3) Arctan 3

13