Equivalent Trigonometric Expressions Activity

Question 1: Using technology, graph the following cofunction identities and identify which
functions on the graph are equal. Use a different color for each function and hand in a copy of
your graph.
Using your knowledge from previous courses, explain what kind of transformations are
occurring to the trigonometric functions to make them equivalent expressions.

This is the standard sine function. It represents the y-coordinate of a point on the unit circle.

This is the standard cosine function. It represents the x-coordinate of a point on the unit circle

This is a negative sine function. it's the reflection of the sine function about the x-axis.

This function is a cosine function with a translation of pi/2 to the left.

This function is a sine function with a translation of pi/2 to the left.

𝜋
• cos(x) and 𝑠𝑖𝑛 ( 2 + 𝑥):
𝜋
They are equal because when 𝑠𝑖𝑛 (𝑥) is shifted 2 units to the left it becomes 𝑐𝑜𝑠 (𝑥).
𝜋
• -sin(x) and 𝑐𝑜𝑠( 2 + 𝑥):
𝜋
They are equal because 𝑠𝑖𝑛 (𝑥) has been reflected in the x-axis and 𝑐𝑜𝑠 (𝑥) has been shifted units to the left.
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