regents trigonometry

study guide
overview!
radian angle measurements
the unit circle
special right triangles
finding coterminal & reference angles and their quadrants
sine, cosine, & tangent functions
finding trig ratios - sohcahtoa
finding trig functions using identity
inverse trig functions
sinusoidal modeling
finding amplitude, frequency, period, midline, & phase shift
graphing trig functions
identifying the 9 trig functions and their graphs
radian angle measurements

a radian is the angle of an arc

created by wrapping the
radius of a circle around its
circumference.

converting from degrees to converting from radians to

radians: degrees:
# of degrees x π/180 # of degrees x 180/π
the unit circle
Quadrant II Quadrant I

the unit circle is a circle centered

at the origin with a radius of 1.

all of the degrees on the unit circle

can be found using the pythagorean
theorem or the special right triangles
below.
 finding coterminal & reference angles
the reference angle is the
two angles are coterminal if they are
acute angle between the
drawn in the standard position and
terminal side and the x-axis.
both have their terminal sides in the
the reference angle is always
same location.
positive.
to calculate the reference ∠, if the ∠ is:
to find a positive and a 0° to 90°: reference ∠ = ∠ 90° to 180°:
negative angle coterminal reference ∠ = 180° - ∠
with a given angle, you can 180° to 270°: reference ∠ = ∠ - 180°
add and subtract 360° if 270° to 360°: reference ∠ = 360° - ∠
the ∠ is measured in
degrees or 2π if the ∠ is
measured in radians. you can
also convert the radians to
degrees and find the
coterminal angles.

∠ = standard angle
∠ = reference angle
in the diagram above, we can see that
45º, -315º, & 405ºare all
coterminal angles.
 sine, cosine, & tangent functions

sine is the trigonometric function that

is equal to the ratio of the side we can calculate these 3 trigonometric
opposite a given angle (in a right ratios by using SOHCAHTOA
triangle) to the hypotenuse.

cosine is the trigonometric function

that is equal to the ratio of the side
adjacent to an acute angle (in a right
angle triangle) to the hypotenuse.

tangent is the trigonometric function

that is equal to the ratio of the sides
(other than the hypotenuse) opposite
and adjacent to an angle in a right
triangle.
 finding trig functions
using identity
there are one basic pythagorean identity that we can there are 6 other basic identities that we can use
use to solve for a function if we are given the to solve for the cosecant, secant, and cotangent
value of another. values given the basic trig function values.

pythagorean identity (derived from cscθ=1/sinθ

the pythagorean theorem): secθ=1/cosθ
sin^2θ + cos^2θ = 1 cotθ=1/tanθ
sinθ=1/cscθ
cosθ=1/secθ
cotθ= cosθ/sinθ tanθ=1/cotθ
tanθ= sinθ/cosθ in other words, the csc, sec, & cot values are the
reciprocals of the sin, cos, & tan values, and vice versa.
 inverse trig functions
inverse trigonometric functions are the inverse
functions of the trigonometric functions, in other
words, functions raised to the negative 1 power.
these functions can be used to find missing angles of
a right triangle when 2 side lengths are known.
y=sin^-1x = x=sin(y)
y=cos^-1x = x=cos(y)
y=tan^-1x = x=tan(y)

here we a have a right triangle degrees:

where we know the lengths of
the two legs, that is, the sides tan^-1(10/3)≈73.3°
opposite and adjacent to the radians:
angle. so, we use the inverse
tangent function. tan^-1(10/3)≈1.28 rad
 sinusoidal modeling
a sinusoidal function is a
function that is like a sine
function in the sense that the
function can be produced by
shifting, stretching or
y=Asin(Bx)+D compressing the sine function. y=AsinB(x-c)+D
y=Acos(Bx)+D y=AcosB(x-c)+D
A amplitude - the distance c phase shift - the horizontal
between the center line of the translation of the graph, or
function (midline) and the top how far the graph is shifted
or bottom of the function. it is horizontally from its original
ALWAYS positive. position
B frequency - the number of D midline - the center line of
cycles in 360º, or 2π. the function's graph
period of a trig graph - the
length of 1 wave of a function.
can be found using the formula
BP=2π
 graphing trig functions
1) determine the amplitude, frequency, period, and 4) label the x and y scales of the graph. the y
midline of the function. determine the phase shift value should be determined by looking at the max
if it is given. and min values and finding a scale that will be
suitable for graphing. the x value should be the
2) determine the maximum and minimum points of period of the graph, which can be determined by
the formula BP=2π. once you have determined the
the function. this can be done by adding midline to period, divide it by 4 and set the x scale with
the amplitude (maximum) and subtracting the those intervals.
midline from the amplitude (minimum).
5) start graphing the function using the designated
3) is your function a sine graph or a cosine rules for each type of function, as stated in step
graph? sine graphs always start at the midline and 3.
go to the max value if the amplitude is positive 6) once you have graphing 1-2 cycles of the
and the min value if the amplitude is negative. function, draw a dashed horizontal line through the
cosine graphs always start and end at either the midline, indicating that it is the midline.
max or min value, depending on the sign of the
amplitude. if the a value is positive, the start and 7) if there is a phase shift, translate the graph
end points should be the max value. if the a value as indicated by the c value. if the c value is
is negative, the start and end points should be the positive, shift the graph to the left. if it is
min value. negative, shift it to the right.
examples:
 identifying
the 9 basic
trig functions
and their
graphs