Whatis Trigonometry?
Trigonometryisoneofthemostimportantbranchesinmathematicsthatfindshugeapplicationin diverse fields. The
branch called “Trigonometry” basically deals with the study of the relationship between the sides and angles of
the right-angle [Link], it helps to find the missing or unknown angles or sides of a right triangle using the
trigonometric formulas, functions or
trigonometric identities. In trigonometry, the angles can be either measured in degrees or radians.
Someofthemostcommonly usedtrigonometricanglesforcalculationsare0°,30°,45°,60°and90°.
[Link] are:
• PlaneTrigonometry
• SphericalTrigonometry
Inthisarticle,letusdiscussthesiximportanttrigonometricfunctions,ratios,trigonometrytable, formulas and identities
which helps to find the missing angles or sides of a right triangle.
TrigonometryRatios-Sine,Cosine,Tangent
The trigonometric ratios of a triangle are also called the trigonometric [Link], cosine, and
tangentare3importanttrigonometricfunctionsandareabbreviatedassin,[Link] how are these ratios or
functions, evaluated in case of a right-angled triangle.
Consideraright-angledtriangle,wherethelongestsideiscalledthehypotenuse,andthesides opposite to the
hypotenuse are referred to as the adjacent and opposite sides.
SixImportantTrigonometricFunctions
The six important trigonometric functions (trigonometric ratios) are calculated using the below
[Link] right triangle because it
defines the set of important trigonometric functions.
Functions Abbreviation Relationshiptosidesofarighttriangle
SineFunction sin Oppositeside/Hypotenuse
TangentFunction tan Oppositeside/Adjacentside
CosineFunction cos Adjacentside/Hypotenuse
CosecantFunction cosec Hypotenuse/Oppositeside
SecantFunction sec Hypotenuse/Adjacentside
CotangentFunction cot Adjacentside/Oppositeside
EvenandOddTrigonometricFunctions
Thetrigonometricfunctioncanbedescribedasbeingevenorodd.
Oddtrigonometricfunctions:Atrigonometricfunctionissaidtobeanoddfunctioniff(-x)=-f(x)and symmetric with
respect to the origin.
Eventrigonometricfunctions:Atrigonometricfunctionissaidtobeanevenfunction,iff(-x)=f(x) and symmetric to the y-
axis.
Weknowthat
• Sin(-x)=–Sinx
• Cos(-x)=Cosx
• Tan(-x)=-Tanx
• Csc(-x)=–Cscx
• Sec(-x)=Secx
• Cot(-x)=-Cotx
Therefore,cosineandsecantaretheeventrigonometricfunctions,whereassine,tangent,cosecant and cotangent are
the odd trigonometric functions. If we know the even and odd trigonometric functions, it helps us to simplify the
trigonometric expression when the variable inside the
trigonometricfunctionisnegative.
TrigonometryAngles
Thetrigonometryangleswhicharecommonlyusedintrigonometryproblemsare0°,30°,45°,
60° and 90°. The trigonometric ratios such as sine, cosine and tangent of these angles are easy to memorize.
Wewill also show the tablewhere all theratios and their respectiveangle’s values are
[Link]-angledtriangle,inwhichoneoftheacute angles will be the
corresponding trigonometry angle. These angles will be defined with respect to the ratio associated with it.
Forexample,inaright-angledtriangle,
Sinθ=Perpendicular/Hypotenuse or θ = sin-1 (P/H)
Similarly,
θ=cos-1(Base/Hypotenuse)
θ=tan-1(Perpendicular/Base) Trigonometry Table
Checkthetableforcommonangleswhichareusedtosolvemanytrigonometricproblems involving trigonometric
ratios.
Angles 0° 30° 45° 60° 90°
Sinθ 0 ½ 1/√2 √3/2 1
Cosθ 1 √3/2 1/√2 ½ 0
Tanθ 0 1/√3 1 √3 ∞
Cosecθ ∞ 2 √2 2/√3 1
Secθ 1 2/√3 √2 2 ∞
Cotθ ∞ √3 1 1/√3 0
Inthesameway,wecanfindthetrigonometricratiovaluesforanglesbeyond90degrees,suchas 180°, 270° and 360°.
ListofTrigonometryFormulas
TheTrigonometricformulasorIdentitiesaretheequationswhicharetrueinthecaseofRight- Angled Triangles. Some
of the special trigonometric identitiesare given below –