TRIGONOMETRIC

RATIOS
GROUP 3: RJ, REEVES, EARLE, HEART, APRIL
• Trigonometric Ratios refers to the expression telling that the sides of a right-angled
triangle for a specific angle .
• There are 6 basic trigonometric ratios / functions:
1.) Sine of (sin)
•2.)  Cosine of (cos)
3.) Tangent of (tan)
4.) Cosecant of (csc)
5.) Secant of (sec)
6.) Cotangent of (cot)
• The triangle’s sides (a, b, and c) will play an important role in this lesson: “a” will represent
as the side adjacent, the “b” will play as the side opposite, and “c” as hypotenuse.
• There are formulas for each trigonometric function which will involve the a, b, and c.
•  
sin() = csc() =
cos() = sec() =
tan() = cot() =
 LET’S SOLVE AN EXAMPLE FIRST!

• Example 1: Find the value of each trigonometric functions of the angle in the figure. (Figure
is in p. 302, the triangle)
Note that the length of the side adjacent to is 3 and the hypotenuse is 4. We first compute for
the length b of the side opposite .
• = 

=
B=
Now that we have the values of the three sides, we get the values of each trigonometric
function.
sin() = = csc() = = =
cos() = = sec() = =
tan() = = cot() = = =

• Take note that when the denominator is a square root, make sure to put it on the
•  numerator as well but the denominator now has no square root, say for example = , change
it to : .
• Example 2: Given that tan = ½ and is an acute angle, find the exact value of each of the
remaining trigonometric functions of . First, we will draw a right triangle with acute angle of
whose opposite side of length is 1 and its side adjacent is of length 2. We compute for the
length c of the hypotenuse to .
 =
Now that we have the values of the three sides, we get the value of each trigonometric
function.
•  

sin() = = = csc() = =
cos() = = = sec() =
tan() = = ½ cot() =
• Let r be the length of the hypotenuse of the reference triangle of . Note that this is also
equal to the distance of P(a, b) from the origin. Thus, by Distance Formula, r = > 0.
• Then the six trigonometric functions of are defined as follows, assuming that no
denominator equals 0:
•sin
  = cos = tan =
csc = sec = cot =
• If a denominator is equal to 0, that trigonometric function of is not defined.
• Again, by similarity of triangles, it can be shown that the values of these trigonometric
functions of do not depend on the selection of the point P(a, b) on the terminal side of Ø.
 x, y > 0 x < 0, y > 0 x, y < 0 x > 0, y < 0
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
• The table here gives a
summary of the signs of the
trigonometric functions per sin + + - -
quadrant. Note that the
signs depend of the signs of
the coordinates of the point cos + - - +
P(a, b).

tan + - + -

csc + + - -

sec + - - +

cot + - + -
 EXAMPLE 9.2.2

• 1. Find the exact value of each trigonometric functions of a positive angle if (-4, 3) is a point
on its terminal side.
• 2. Given cos = where lies in quadrant IV, find the exact value of each of the remaining
trigonometric functions.

•• ANSWER:
 
• 1. For the point (-4, 3), we have a = -4 and b = 3. So, r = = 5.
Thus, the following are the values of the trigonometric functions of Ø.
sin = = > 0; cos = =
=
• Note that lies on quadrant II that is why sin > 0 and csc >0 while the rest are all negative.
• 2. In this example, we illustrate how to use the reference angle of to compute the values of
the trigonometric functions on . We use the fact that, except for the signs, the values of the
trigonometric functions of a general angle equal the values of the trigonometric function of
its reference angle.
•Let
  a be the reference angle of . Note that a is one of the acute angles of the reference
triangle of as shown in the following figure.

Since cos = , we have cos a = = By Pythagorean Theorem, we find that the length of the
opposite side to a is 4.
• Thus, we have the following values of the trigonometric functions on the reference angle a:
sin = cos = tan =
csc = sec = cot =

• Since Ø is in quadrant IV, we must have cos Ø > 0 and sec Ø > 0 while the rest are all
•  negative. Adjusting the signs of the values accordingly, we get the correct values of the

trigonometric functions on Ø.
sin = cos tan
csc sec cot
• Another way to get these values is by using the point P(3, -4) which is on the terminal side
of Ø as in the previous item.