Honors

Precalculus



Sine Function Analysis Final

Name: Bobby ----------------

Date: 12/18/14 Block: 4A

= ()

1) What does stand for? Yes, it is an angle, but how do we quantify that angle?
What does " < < " mean given what stands for? Include an explanation of negative xvalues.
In the sine function, x stands for the radian measure of an angle. This angle is quantified in radians so
therefore, "-10 < x < 10" means that the domain (radian measure of an angle) is restricted to less than 10
radians and more than -10 radians. A radian is a unit of measure for an angle. One radian is the measure of
the central angle in a circle that is formed by an arc with a length equal to the radius of the circle. -10 radians
is a negative radian measure, which is just like 10 radians. They are similar in a way that they both represent
the same ratio of the length of the arc an angle inscribes divided by the circles radius. The quality that
makes them different is that as a positive radian measure of an angle in standard position increases its
distance from 0 radians, the terminal side moves counterclockwise. As a negative radian measure of an angle
in standard position increases its distance from 0 radians, the terminal side moves clockwise.
2) What does mean for some specific value of ?
Hint: Think about how you developed the sine graph in class where did the segments come from?
Sin(x) represents the distance from the endpoint of an angles (x) arc on a unit circle to the x-axis.
Since there are an infinite amount of co-terminal angles, this is simply a ratio of the distance from the
endpoint to the x-axis, to the radius of the unit circle which is 1. As a result, we are brought back to the first
statement as the definition of sin(x).
In addition, one can examine sin(x) from an even larger perspective, without using the unit circle. If
one graphs an angle (composed of two rays) on a coordinate plane in standard position, one can pick any
point on the terminal side of the angle since sine is a ratio. Sin(x) is the ratio of the y value of the point on
this angles side, to the distance from the origin to that point. The y value of the point on this angles side can
also be viewed graphically as the length of the perpendicular segment from the point to the x-axis. As x
varies from 0 to pi/2, y varies from 0 to 1. As x varies from pi/2 to pi, y varies from 1 to 0. As x varies from
pi to (3pi)/2, y varies from 0 to -1. As x varies from (3pi)/2 to 2 pi, y varies from -1 to 0. As x varies from
pi/2 to (3pi)/2, y varies from 1 to -1. These intervals show how the distance from the endpoint of the arc to
the x-axis varies with the radian measure of the angle.

3) Graph = using Desmos. Click on any point on the graph (choose a random, non-quadrantal
angle). The point's coordinates are shown. What are they? What story do these coordinates tell? Your
answer should use language like angle, radian, segment, circle.
The points coordinates have two pieces of information. The x coordinate shows the radian measure
of an angle. The y coordinate shows the distance from the endpoint of the angles arc on a unit circle to the
x-axis. However, it is not necessarily only on a unit circle since if the circle was larger, the radius would
increase, and so would the distance to the x-axis. In other words, the y coordinate can be described as the
ratio of the distance from the endpoint of an angles arc on a circle to the x-axis, to the circles radius. The
story that these coordinates tell is how the distance to the x-axis changes based on the angle measure. We can
see the distance decreases with angles measuring pi/2 radians to pi radians as well as angles measuring
(3pi)/2 radians to 2pi radians. Also, we can see the distance increases with angles measuring 0 radians to pi/2
radians and pi to (3pi)/2 radians. An example of the story these coordinates describe can be seen in the
random point (and angle): (0.43, 0.417). The x coordinate shows this angles radian measure is 0.43 radians,
while the y coordinate shows the ratio of the distance (or length of the perpendicular segment) from the
endpoint of the angles arc on a circle to the x-axis, to the circles radius is 0.417. These coordinates
contribute to the story of a fluctuating distance (when used in conjunction with other coordinates) to the xaxis, as described above. Since 0.43 is in the domain of 0 radians to pi/2 radians, the distance is increasing
with this angle.
4) Why does the graph of = appear as it does? Analyze the behavior of the function in each
quadrant. Use language of covariation: as x varies from _____ to _____, y varies from _____ to _____
because Why do the values of = repeat?
The graph of sin(x) appears like a wave pattern because the distance to the x-axis is rising and falling
for certain angle measures. This can be better described using the language of covariation. As x varies from 0
to pi/2, y varies from 0 to 1 since y is increasing in the first quadrant, assuming we rotate counter clockwise.
As x varies from pi/2 to pi, y varies from 1 to 0 since y is decreasing in the second quadrant. As x varies
from pi to (3pi)/2, y varies from 0 to -1 since y is decreasing (but the distance from the x-axis is increasing)
in the third quadrant. As x varies from (3pi)/2 to 2 pi, y varies from -1 to 0 since y is increasing (but the
distance to the x-axis is decreasing) in the fourth quadrant. The function increases and decreases over certain
intervals (four quadrants) because the terminal side is either moving closer to or further from the x-axis
depending on the quadrant. It changes between quadrants because the quadrants are separated by the x-axis.
Therefore, when transitioning from one quadrant to the other, the terminal side crosses the x-axis, which
changed the terminal sides behavior from moving closer to the x-axis to moving away from it. The wave
characteristic appears since there is no constant difference between the distances. Also, it is a repeating
pattern because all angle measures (negative infinity, positive infinity) are contained in a circle. Since one
full revolution is 360 degrees or 2pi radians, it must be a repeating pattern if an infinite number of angle
measures can be used. In other words, once an angle has completed one revolution, its terminal side overlaps
the x-axis and begins to pass over the terminal sides of other angles from the previous revolution. As a result,
when its terminal side shares a terminal side with another angle (a co-terminal angle), their sine ratios, sin(x),
are the same which creates a repeating pattern and gives the function a periodic characteristic. As previously
stated, one full revolution is 2pi radians. This is the functions period, or the distance from any real x value
(angle measure) where the function will repeat itself.