4.

2:TrigonometricFunctions:TheUnitCircle
Thewordtrigonometrymeansmeasurementoftriangles.
Trigonometricfunctions,withdomainsconsistingofsetsofangles,
werefirstdefinedusingrighttriangles.Mostotherfunctionswe
workwithusedomainsconsistingofrealnumbers.Lookingattrig
fromaunitcircleapproachrelatesthetwoconcepts.Theunit
circle(radius1)centeredattheoriginhasequationx2+y2=1.
Everypoint(x,y)onthecirclemustsatisfythisequation.Let
P=(x,y)denotethepointontheunitcirclethathasarclength
tunitsfrom(1,0).Sinceweareontheunitcircle,theanglethat
interceptsthatarchasmeasuretradians.Wedefinethe
xcoordinateofthepointtobecosinet,orcost.
Wedefinetheycoordinateofthepointtobesinet,orsint.
Considerthepoint(0,1)ontheunitcircle.Thedistancefromthe
point(1,0)tothepoint(0,1)alongthecircleis/2units.Theangle
thatinterceptsthatarcis/2radians.
Thereforethecosineof/2is0andthesineof/2is1.
(Orcos(/2)=0andsin(/2)=1.)

Inadditiontocosineandsine,therearefourothertrigfunctions,all
relatedtocosineandsine.Theyaretangent(tan),secant(sec),
cosecant(csc),andcotangent(cot),andaredefinedasfollows:

Inthefigurebelow,thepointP(5/13,12/13)isshownonthe
unitcirclecorrespondingtoarealnumbert.Findthevalues
ofthesixtrigonometricfunctionsatt.

Theincrementsintowhichwedividedtheunitcircleinthelastsection
allcorrespondto"specialangles,"whichhavespecialvaluesforthetrig
functions.Ifyoulearnthevaluesofsineandcosineforthereference
angles(thespecialanglesinQuadrantI),itwillmakeiteasytogettheir
valuesforanymultipleofaspecialangle.
Firstspecialangle:/4

Nextspecialangle:/3

Nextspecialangle:/6

Nowweshouldbeabletolabelthepointsonthecirclebelowwiththe
propercoordinates,keepinginmindinwhichquadrantsvaluesare
positiveandnegative.

Recallthattheequationoftheunitcirclecenteredattheoriginis
x2+y2=1.Sincecost=xandsint=y,thisgivesustheequation
(cost)2+(sint)2=1orcos2t+sin2t=1.ThisisthePythagorean
Identity,andwillhelpusfindvaluesofthetrigfunctionsifweare
onlygivenonecoordinateoronetrigfunctionvalue.
Ex:Supposesint=7/8andtisinQuadrantI.Findthevaluesof
theotherfivetrigfunctions.(Whatotherquadrantcouldtbein?)

Whatdoyounoticeaboutthecosineoftandthecosineoft?
Ex:cos(/4)cos(/4)
Howaboutthesineoftandthesineoft?
Ex:sin(/4)sin(/4)

Recallthatevenfunctionshavethepropertythatf(x)=f(x).
Therefore,y=costmustbeanevenfunction!
Recallthatoddfunctionshavethepropertythatf(x)=f(x).
Therefore,y=sintmustbeanoddfunction!
Useevenandoddpropertiesoftrigfunctionstofindeachofthe
following.(Hint:Firstfindcos(2/3)andsin(3/4).)
1)cos(2/3)

2)sin(3/4)

Recallthattofindananglewhichwascoterminalwithagivenangle,we
wouldadd2(oramultipleof2)tothegivenradianmeasure.This
suggeststhatcos(t+2)=cost,andthatsin(t+2)=sint.
Thismeansthatcostandsintareperiodicfunctions,withperiod2.
i.e.thetime(ordistance)thatittakestocompleteonefullcycleis2.
Usetheperiodicpropertiesofsineandcosinetofindeachvalue.
1)cos(13/6)

2)sin(21/2)

Thenumberofhoursofdaylight,H,ondaytofanygivenyear
(onJanuary1,t=1)inSanDiego,California,canbemodeled
bythefunctionbelow.

March21,the80thdayoftheyear,isthespringequinox.Find
thenumberofhoursofdaylightinSanDiegoonthisday.

December21,the355thdayoftheyear,isthewintersolstice,
thedaywiththeminimumnumberofhoursofdaylight.Tothe
nearesttenthofanhour,findthenumberofhoursofdaylightin
SanDiegoonthisday.