What math should you know before you start

your undergraduate studies at BME?

Review for prospective students

Trigonometry
Trigonometric identities
You should know the following identities:
sin  cos 
sin 2   cos2   1, tan   , cot  
cos  sin 

Learn the angle sum/difference identities by heart:

sin(   )  sin  cos   cos sin  cos(   )  cos cos  sin  sin 
You should also know the special cases derived from these identities. By setting
   , for example, one obtains the identities for double angles:

sin 2  2sin  cos  cos 2  cos2   sin 2 

By setting    or    2 one obtains further identities:

sin(   )   sin  cos(   )   cos 

sin(   2)   cos  cos(   2)  sin 

Trigonometric equations

Here are some sample equations the likes of which you should be able to solve.
Solve the following equations considering the restrictions given for x .

cos x  0 for x 

for x  0, 2 
x 1
sin 
2 2

sin 2 x  cos2 x  1 for x 

Measuring angles, special angles and their trigonometric functions

You should know how to convert between radians and degrees:  radians equal 180°.
You should know the sines and cosines of special angles (0°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 90° and
their multiples), how to interpret trigonometric functions on the unit circle. The fol-
lowing tables contain a review of these data.

Table 1. 90o and its multiples

The absolute values of both sine and cosine are equal to zero or one for such angles.
Signs and magnitudes are easily obtained by using the unit circle.
 (degrees)  (radians) Unit circle Function values

sin 0  sin 0  0

 0  0

cos 0  cos 0  1


sin 90  sin 1
2

  90 
2

cos 90  cos 0
2

sin180  sin   0

  180  

cos180  cos   1

3
sin 270  sin  1
2
3
  270 
2
3
cos 270  cos 0
2

sin 360  sin 2  0

  360   2

cos 360  cos 2  1

Table 2. 45o and its multiples that are not listed in Table 1.
1
The absolute values of both sine and cosine are for such angles. Signs can be easily
2
obtained by using the unit circle.
 (degrees)  (radians) Unit circle Function values

 1
sin 45  sin 
4 2

  45 
4
 1
cos 45  cos 
4 2

3 1
sin 135  sin 
4 2
3
  135 
4
3 1
cos135  cos 
4 2

5 1
sin 225  sin 
4 2
5
  225 
4
5 1
cos 225  cos 
4 2

7 1
sin 315  sin 
4 2
7
  315 
4
7 1
cos 315  cos 
4 2
Table 3. 30o and its multiples that are not listed in Table 1.
1 3
The absolute values of both sine and cosine are equal to or for such angles. Signs
2 2
and magnitudes are easily obtained by using the unit circle.
 (degrees)  (radians) Unit circle Function values

 1
sin 30  sin 
6 2

  30 
6
 3
cos 30  cos 
6 2

 3
sin 60  sin 
3 2

  60 
3
 1
cos 60  cos 
3 2

2 3
sin 120  sin 
3 2
2
  120 
3
2 1
cos120  cos 
3 2

5 1
sin 150  sin 
6 2
5
  150 
6
5 3
cos150  cos 
6 2

7 1
sin 210  sin 
6 2
7
  210 
6
7 3
cos 210  cos 
6 2
 4 3
sin 240  sin 
3 2
4
  240 
3
4 1
cos 240  cos 
3 2

5 3
sin 300  sin 
3 2
5
  300 
3
5 1
cos 300  cos 
3 2

11 1
sin 330  sin 
6 2
11
  330 
6
11 3
cos 330  cos 
6 2