Scribd
Upload
5 views12 pages

Trigonometry Basics: Sine, Cosine, Tangent

This document provides a quick review of trigonometric functions, including sine, cosine, and tangent, along with their relationships and how to determine their values for various angles. It emphasizes understanding these functions as ratios and offers strategies for finding values without a calculator, such as using reference angles and special right triangles. Additionally, it includes examples and key values to memorize for common angles.

Uploaded by

Mery
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
5 views12 pages

Trigonometry Basics: Sine, Cosine, Tangent

This document provides a quick review of trigonometric functions, including sine, cosine, and tangent, along with their relationships and how to determine their values for various angles. It emphasizes understanding these functions as ratios and offers strategies for finding values without a calculator, such as using reference angles and special right triangles. Additionally, it includes examples and key values to memorize for common angles.

Uploaded by

Mery
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Trigonometry

Quick Review
What is the sine of an angle?

What is the cosine of an angle?

What is the tangent of an angle?

What is the relationship between the sine and cosine of complementary angles?

What is a quadrant, and why is it relevant to trigonometry?


Answers
sin x = opposite/hypotenuse
cos x = adjacent/hypotenuse
tan x = opposite/adjacent = sin x/cos x
The sine of an angle is equal to the cosine of its
complementary angle.
sin x = cos (90° - x), and cos x = sin (90° - x).

Remember:
ASTC (All Students Take Calculus)
It’s important to see these trigonometric functions as if they were just ordinary
numbers. After all, they’re just ratios. For example, sin 30° is always equal to ½.
All right triangles with a 30° are similar, so the ratios of the sides stay the
same.

Many students over-complicate trigonometry because they treat sin x, cos


x, and tan x differently than regular numbers. They make mistakes like
To find the value of a trig function for an angle without a calculator,

1. Determine what the sign of the result should be (positive or negative).


2. Find the reference angle (the acute angle you get by drawing a straight line to the x-axis). If
the angle is 225°, for example, the reference angle is 225° - 180° = 45°.

Don’t waste time memorizing formulas for finding the reference angle. Just draw a line to the x-
axis and figure it out yourself!

3. Use your 45-45-90 or 30-60-90 special right triangles. The SAT won’t ask you to calculate
the trig values for angles that aren’t in these special right triangles unless you’re able to use
your calculator.
4. Make sure your result has the correct sign from step 1.
Example 1
What is the value of sin 330°?
Since 330° is in the fourth quadrant, the result should be a negative sine.

The reference angle is 360° - 330° =30°. Using the 30-60-90 triangle,

sin 30 = opposite/hypotenuse = ½
The answer is -½.
Example 2
What is the value of cos 135°?

Since 135° is in the second quadrant and cosine is negative in the second
quadrant, the result should be negative. Now, let’s find the reference
angle:

The reference angle is 180° - 135° = 45°. Using the 45-45-90 triangle,

Since the result should be negative, the answer is - .


Example 3
What is the value of tan 210°?

Since 210° is in the third quadrant and tangent is positive in the third
quadrant, the result should be positive. Now, let’s find the reference angle.

The reference angle is 210° - 180° = 30°. Using the 30-60-90 triangle
shown earlier,
To Memorize:
sin 0° = 0

cos 0° = 1

tan 0° = 0

sin 90° = 1 = sin (π/2)

cos 90° = 0 = cos (π/2)

tan 90° = undefined = tan (π/2)

*With the 30-60-90 triangle, tan 90° = 1/0. You cannot divide by zero, so the
tangent is undefined.
Practice Section
CORRECTION
College Counseling - The GAP
Year
[Link]

You might also like