Activity 6.
11† – The Cosine and Sine Functions
FOR DISCUSSION: Give a geometrical interpretation of the cosine and sine functions.
In words, describe the following aspects of a sinusoidal graph:
Amplitude, period, frequency, phase shift, midline.
______________________________________________________________________________
In Lesson 6.1 we learned that a radius lying along the positive horizontal axis creates a positive
angle θ by sweeping counterclockwise around the unit circle. The first coordinate of the point on
the circle is the cosine of θ, and the second coordinate is the sine of θ. When θ is a multiple of
( 30 ) or ( 45 ) , we refer to it as a basic angle. The cosines and sines of the basic angles
6 4
n
in the first quadrant are easy to remember since they each have the form 2 , where n is an
integer ranging from 0 through 4. The remaining basic angles can be found by symmetry with
the angles in the first quadrant. For instance, cos 43 cos 3 12 since the corresponding
points have opposite x-coordinates, and sin 56 sin 6 since the corresponding points have the
same y-coordinates. The table and diagram below summarize the basics.
Basic angles (in first quadrant) Quadrant 2
Unit Circle Quadrant 1
x = cosine < 0 x = cosine > 0
y = sine > 0 y = sine > 0
θ x = cos θ y = sin θ
0 0 2
4
1 2
0
0
30 3 1
1
6 2 2 2
45 2 2
4 2 2
60 1
1 3
3 2 2 2
90 0
0 4
1
2 2 2 Quadrant 3 Quadrant 4
x = cosine < 0 x = cosine > 0
y = sine < 0 y = sine < 0
1
This activity contains new content.
†
This activity is referenced in Activity 6.2.
sin
In Lesson 6.3, we will see that the tangent function is defined as tan . Therefore,
cos
finding the tangent of an angle θ is simply a matter of dividing its sine by its cosine.
1. Without looking back, complete the table of basic angles, and use it to fill in the given table.
Use the unit circle below if necessary.
θ x = cos θ y = sin θ θ cos θ sin θ tan θ
0 0
0 0 4
1 0
0
2 2 30
6
30
6 45
4
45
4 3
60
90
3
60 2
180
2
90
3 270
2
5 150
6
4 240
3
2. Sketch the graphs of the sine and cosine functions below. Use the table above if necessary.
y = sin x y = cos x
1 1
–2π –π π 2π –2π –π π 2π
x x
–3π –π π 3π –3π –π π 3π
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
–1 –1
3. Suppose y 4 cos(3x 2) 1 . Determine each of the following.
(a) Amplitutde
(b) Period
(c) Phase (horizontal shift)
(d) Midline (vertical shift)
(e) Sketch the graph of y below.
4. Suppose that you were sitting on a pier at your favorite ocean resort on July 22 at 9:00 a.m.,
just as high tide was occurring. A nearby tide gauge showed the water level at 3.96 meters.
Assuming that the interval between high and low tides at this resort is 5.5 hours, you decided
to return to the pier at 2:30 p.m. on that same day to check the water level and observed it to
be 1.60 meters. (HINT: Make a sketch!)
(a) Write an equation of the form h(t ) A cos( Bt ) D that models the height of the tide at
the resort t hours after 9:00 a.m. on July 22 (i.e., t = 0 corresponds to 9:00 a.m.).
(HINT: Use the given information to determine A, B, and D.)
(b) Use your model to find the height of the tide at 3:00 a.m. on July 23, and at 8:00 a.m. on
July 24.
(c) Write an equation of the form H (t ) A cos(Bt C ) D that models the height of the tide
at the resort t hours after noon on July 22 (i.e., t = 0 corresponds to 12:00 p.m.).
(HINT: Use the fact that the new model is the same as the one in Part (a) except for an
appropriate phase shift.)