Using Trigonometric Graphs
Prior Knowledge:
• Using trigonometry in right-angled triangles.
There are three different trigonometric functions: sine, cosine and tangent. Like any other
function, they have inputs and outputs. It is important to have an understanding of these inputs
and outputs to be able to properly solve some trigonometry problems.
The Sine Function
The input to the sine function is an angle, and an angle can have any value:
• An acute angle, e.g. 25°.
• An obtuse angle, e.g. 130°.
• A reflex angle, e.g. 280°.
• An angle above 360°, describing more than one rotation, e.g. 720°.
• An angle below 0°, describing a rotation in an opposite direction, e.g. -30°.
The output to the sine function is more limited. The largest possible output is 1 and the smallest
possible output is -1, so: -1 ≤ sin(x) ≤ 1. You can try this yourself: take the sine of a very large
number and this will never exceed 1. There is also no relationship between the sign of the input
and output; a negative input can give a positive output, and vice versa.
This is because the sine function is cyclical; it repeats forever, every 360°. A way of visualising
this is to imagine a circle, with radius 1, drawn on a standard axis:
90°
(-270°)
1
y
θ
180° 0°
(-180°) x
90°
(-90°)
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Using Trigonometric Graphs
You can see the radius going from the origin to a point (P) on the circumference of the circle.
This radius forms the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle, with an angle between the
radius and the x-axis (usually labelled with the Greek letter theta, θ), an opposite side (the
y-coordinate of P) and an adjacent side (the x-coordinate of P).
opposite
We know sin(θ) = hypotenuse and because the hypotenuse here is always 1, we can simply say
that sin(θ) = y.
Now, imagine point P lies on the positive x-axis. Both θ and y will equal 0, so sin(0) = 0. As
the angle increases, sin(θ) will increase until it reaches a maximum of 1 when θ = 90°. From
this point, it will decrease to 0 when θ = 180°. It will continue decreasing to -1 when θ = 270°.
Sin(θ) will then increase, passing through 0 again when θ = 360° and repeating the pattern
for each cycle.
When graphed, it looks like this:
y = sin(x)
1.5 y
0.5
x
-360 -270 -180 -90 0 90 180 270 360
-0.5
-1
-1.5
The angle is represented on the x-axis, with sin(x) on the y-axis. This graph shows you some
important things about the sine and inverse sine functions. For example, you can see from the
graph that the value of sin(90°) is 1. It cannot take any other value. For a single input, the sine
function has a single output.
Things get more complex with the inverse sine function. For example, let us find the value
sin-1(0.5). Draw a horizontal line at y = 0.5. You will find the value of sin-1(0.5) where your horizontal
line crosses the graph. Just in the range shown here, sin-1(0.5) = 30°, 150°, -210° and -330°, and
this graph carries on forever in both directions. This means that, for a single input, the inverse
sine function has an infinite number of outputs.
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Using Trigonometric Graphs
This is something you need to carefully think about when using the inverse sine function. Your
calculator will always return an angle between -90° and 90°. In a right-angled triangle, this is
not a problem, as the greatest possible angle in a right-angled triangle is 90°. When applying
trigonometry to non-right-angled triangles, particularly when using the sine rule, you need to be
more careful.
Example 1: sin(x) = 0.75. List all possible values of x in the range 0 ≤ sin(x) ≤ 360. Give your
answers correct to 1d.p.
sin(x) = 0.75
x = sin-1(0.75)
x = 48.590…° (or 48.6°)
x = 48.6° is an answer but you need to check if it is the only answer. Sketch the graph of y = sin(x)
between 0° and 360°, then draw a line across at y = 0.75.
1.5 y
1 48.590... 48.590...
0.5
x
-90 0 90 180 270 360
-0.5
-1
-1.5
You can see that we should have two values of x. You can also see that, between 0° and 180°, the
curve is symmetrical about 90°. This means that if one result is 48.590…° above 0°, the other will
be 48.590…° below 180°.
180 – 48.590… = 131.4° (to 1d.p.)
x = 48.6° and 131.4°
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Using Trigonometric Graphs
The Cosine Function
Look again at the circular diagram above. With a hypotenuse of 1, cos(θ) = x. This will follow the
same cyclical pattern as sin(θ), cycling between 1 and -1. However, when θ = 0°, cos(θ) will equal 1.
The graph of the cosine function is the same as the graph of the sine function, but shifted 90° to
the left. Like the sine function, the input to the cosine function can be any angle and the output
will be a single number. The inverse cosine function will also return an infinite number of answers,
given a single input.
y = cos(x)
1.5 y
0.5
x
-360 -270 -180 -90 0 90 180 270 360
-0.5
-1
-1.5
Example 2: y is a reflex angle. Cos(y) = (-0.5). What is the size of angle y, correct to the nearest
degree?
cos(y) = -0.5
y = cos-1(-0.5)
y = 120° (according to your calculator)
However, 120° is not a reflex angle. If we sketch the cosine graph between 0° and 360°, we see
that, in this range, the curve is symmetrical about 180°.
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Using Trigonometric Graphs
1.5 y
0.5
x
-90 0 90 180 270 360
-0.5
30° 30°
As 120° is 30° more than 90°,
-1
another possible value is 30°
less than 270°.
y = 240°
-1.5
The Tangent Function
The graph of the tangent function looks a little different. Looking at the circular diagram above,
y
tan(θ) = x . If you imagine the radius rotating around the circle, at θ = 90° and θ = 270°, x will equal 0.
This means tan(θ) will not have a value at these points as you cannot divide by 0. As θ approaches
90° or 270°, tan(θ) approaches ∞ or -∞. This is called an asymptote. As such, the possible outputs
of tan(θ) are in the range, -∞ < tan(θ) < ∞, and the tangent function cycles every 180°.
Like the other two functions, the tangent function gives a single output for any input, and the
inverse tangent function returns infinite outputs, when given a single input. The graph of the
tangent function looks like this, with dotted lines showing the asymptotes.
y = tan(x)
3 y
x
-360 -315 -270 -225 -180 -135 -90 -45 0 45 90 135 180 225 270 315 360
-1
-2
-3
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Using Trigonometric Graphs
Example 3: tan(x) = 2.5. List all the possible values of x in the range -360 ≤ x ≤ 0, correct to 1d.p.
tan(x) = 2.5
x = tan-1(2.5)
x = 68.195…° (or 68.2° to 1d.p.)
This result is outside of the required range.
3 y
68.2 68.2 68.2
x
-360 -315 -270 -225 -180 -135 -90 -45 0 45 90
-1
-2
-3
If we sketch the tan graph between -360° and 0°, we can see that if tan-1(2.5) is equal to 68.195…°,
it is also equal to (-360 + 68.195…)° and (-180 + 68.195…)°.
x = -291.8° and -111.8° (to 1d.p.)
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Using Trigonometric Graphs
Your Turn:
Use the sine, cosine and tangent graphs to help you.
1. List all values of x in the range 0 ≤ x ≤ 360. Give your answers to 1d.p.
a. sin(x) = 0.2 d. tan(x) = -0.5
b. cos(x) = -0.3 e. sin(x) = -0.9
c. tan(x) = 7 f. cos(x) = 1
2. x is an obtuse angle such that sin(x) = 0.65. What is x, to 3s.f.?
3. y is a reflex angle such that cos(y) = -0.18. What is y, to 2d.p.?
4. z is an obtuse angle such that tan(z) = -2. What is z, to the nearest degree?
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Using Trigonometric Graphs
5. Sketch the graph of y = sin(x), where 360° ≤ x ≤ 720°.
6. Sketch the graph of y = tan(x), where 720° ≤ x ≤ 1080°.
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Using Trigonometric Graphs
7. Joe says he has measured the interior angle of a triangle; the sine of the angle is -0.5. How do
you know Joe has measured the angle incorrectly?
8. A BMXer is trying to learn 720° rotations. He doesn’t make it. He manages to rotate more than
one and three quarters of a rotation. If the sine of his angle of rotation is -0.45, how many
more degrees does he need to rotate? Give your answer correct to the nearest degree.
9. Angle x is an interior angle in a triangle. Sin(x) = 0.84 and cos(x) = 0.55. If we want to know the
size of angle x, why is it easier to use inverse cosine to find the size of angle x?
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