Lecture: Applications of Trigonometry

 Application of trigonometry to waves

 Frequency, period, phase
 Combining two waves equations

1
Types of waves

2
 Definitions

We might consider one-dimensional motion or wave, where

x - being the co-ordinate of a moving ‘particle’. With the properties:

x - varies periodically with t with period

x will have maximum value R, minimum value −R,

This quantity R is called the amplitude of the wave.

α is the phase angle of the wave or simply phase

3
 Example

Write down the values of x at the following times:

t=0 R
a
0

-R

4
 Combining two waves

1  b 
Show that a cos  b sin   R cos(   ), where R  a  b and  =tan  
2 2

a
Using cos(A + B) = cos(A)cos(B) – sin(A)sin(B)
R cos(   )  R cos  cos   sin  sin    R cos  cos   R sin  sin 

a cos   b sin    R cos  cos    R sin  sin 

a  R cos  and b  R sin  (by equating coefficients of cos  and sin  )

5
 Engineering applications
b
a cos  b sin   R cos(   ), where R  a 2  b 2 and  =tan 1  
a
used in engineering because it converts the expression into amplitude-phase form,
where R is the amplitude and β is the phase.

Example
An a.c. current i is given by i  3cos(t )  4sin(.t )
Find the amplitude of this waveform.

R  a 2  b 2 = 32  42 =5
b 4
 =tan 1    tan 1    0.9273 rad
a
  3
 

Hence, i  3cos(t )  4sin(t )  5cos(t  0.9273)

Amplitude = 5 A

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 Example

     
x  A cos  t   B sin  t
 Lm   Lm 
   

Solution      
x  3cos  t   3 sin  t
 Lm   Lm 
   
R  a 2  b 2 = 32  ( 3) 2 = 12 = 4  3  2 3
 3    
 =tan 1  
  (or 30 ) Thus, x  2 3 cos  t 
 Lm 6 
 3  6 

Amplitude = 2√3. We can find frequency by using: f  .
2
   / ( Lm) 
With  = , f   
Lm 2 2 4 2 Lm

7
 Example

Write in the form

Solution:

We have a = -1, b= -1. Hence,

However, as a = -1, b = -1, the angle lies in the third quadrant.

Therefore,

8
 Summary

Remember, to find β we have to check the signs of a and b.