Carto Wong

Notes for HKCEE Mathematics

Trigonometry

Definition.
Suppose the point P(x, y) makes angle  with positive x-axis. Define

 y
 sin   r P(x, y)


 x r
y
 cos 
 r 
x
 y
 tan   x


where r @ x 2  y 2 .

Important relationship.
sin 
tan   and sin 2   cos 2   1 .
cos 

Special Values.

 in degree sin  cos  tan 

0 0 1 0

1 3 1
30
2 2 3
2 2
45 1
2 2
3 1
60 3
2 2

90 1 0 

 You are suggested to memorize all these values!

Page 1 of 7
 Carto Wong

The Graphs of Trigonometric Functions.

The Graph of Sine Function The Graph of Cosine Function

- 360 o - 180 o 180 o 360 o - 360 o - 180 o 180 o 360 o

 The functions sin  and cos are periodic with period 360 .

The Graph of Tangent Function

- 180 o - 90 o 90 o 180 o

 The function tan  is periodic with period 180 .

General Solution for Trigonometric Equation.

Equation General Solution
sin   k   n  180  (1) n sin 1 k
cos  k   n  360  cos 1 k
tan   k   n  180  tan 1 k

Example.
1
The general solution for sin   is   n  180  (1) n  30 (n is integer), i.e. the
2
solutions are
L ,  330,  210, 30, 150, 390, 510,L

Page 2 of 7
 Carto Wong

Reduction Principle.

sin(  )   sin  cos(  )  cos tan(  )   tan 

1
sin(90   )  cos  cos(90   )  sin  tan(90   ) 
tan 
1
sin(90   )  cos cos(90   )   sin  tan(90   )  
tan 

sin(180   )  sin  cos(180   )   cos  tan(180   )   tan 

sin(180   )   sin  cos(180   )   cos  tan(180   )  tan 

1
sin(270   )   cos  cos(270   )   sin  tan(270   ) 
tan 
1
sin(270   )   cos  cos(270   )  sin  tan(270   )  
tan 

sin(360   )   sin  cos(360   )  cos  tan(360   )   tan 

The figure as shown will help us to memorize the above properties.

S A

T C
A

Notations. Given a triangle ABC, the length of BC, CA, AB are

denoted by a, b, c respectively as shown in the figure. The letter R R
c b
usually stands for circumradius（外接圓半徑）.

B a C

Area of Triangle.
1 1 1
area of ABC  ab sin C  bc sin A  ca sin B .
2 2 2

A
 Try to prove this formula yourself! A hint is given by the
figure on the right.
h

B D Page
C 3 of 7
 Carto Wong

Sine Law.
With the notations above, we have
a b c
  ( 2 R) .
sin A sin B sin C

Proof I.
1 1 a c
Just note that ab sin C  area of ABC  bc sin A  a sin C  c sin A   . It
2 2 sin A sin C
a b c
follows that   by symmetry.
sin A sin B sin C

Proof II.
Let O be the circumcenter（外心）of ABC and BO meets the A

circumcircle（外接圓）at D. D

O
Note that BCD is a right angle triangle, so
B C
BC a
sin A  sin D   .
BD 2 R

a b c
Hence,  2 R and follows that   2 R by symmetry.
sin A sin B sin C

Applications of Sine Law.

Example 1. Given a triangle ABC with A  40 , B  80 , and CA = 4.33 cm. Find the
length of BC.

Solution. By Sine Law, A

o
40

4.33 cm

o
80

B C

Page 4 of 7
 Carto Wong

a b

sin A sin B
a 4.33

sin 40 sin 80
4.33
a  sin 40
sin 80
a  2.83 cm (correct to 2 d.p.)

 This is typical case. In the examination, C is usually given instead of B . In this

case you can find B (by  sum of triangle) first and then apply Sine Law.
Example 2. Given a triangle ABC with A  40 , BC = 2.83 cm, and CA = 4.33 cm. Find
B correct to nearest degree.

Solution.

BC CA

sin A sin B
2.83 4.33

sin 40 sin B
4.33
sin B   sin 40
2.83
sin B  0.9835

Hence, B  80 or 100 (correct to nearest degree). The situations are shown in the
following figures.

o
A 40

o
40
4.33 cm
4.33 cm

B 2.83 cm C B 2.83 cm C

TIP. In order to get a more accurate answer, it is better to compute (by your calculator)
 4.33 
sin 1   sin 40  but not sin 1 0.9835 .
 2.83 

Page 5 of 7
 Carto Wong

Cosine Law.
With the usual notations,
b2  c2  a2
cos A 
2bc
Similarly,
c 2  a 2  b2
cos B 
2ca
a2  b2  c2
cos C 
2ab
Applications of Cosine Law.

Example 3. A triangle ABC is shown in the following figure. Find B .

4 cm
2 cm

B 3 cm C

Solution.
22  32  42
cos B 
2 23
1
cos B  
4
B  104.48 (correct to 2 d.p.)

Example 4. Find the length of CA in the following figure.

2.43 cm

o
60
B 3.72 cm C

Solution.

Page 6 of 7
 Carto Wong

2.432  3.722  CA2

cos 60 
2  2.43  3.72
CA  10.7037
2

CA  3.27 cm (correct to 2 d.p.)

 Example 3 and example 4 are typical applications of Cosine Law. Roughly speaking,
these are the only two cases for which we use Cosine Law. All the questions in HKCEE,
except these 2 types, can be solved by Sine Law.

We see one more example.

Example 5. Find the length of BC in the following figure.

2.43 cm 3.27 cm

o o
60 40
B C

Comment. The easiest method is to find A first and then apply Sine Law. But I want to
introduce you a corollary of Cosine Law:
a  b cos C  c cos B .

Solution. Using the formula above,

BC  3.27  cos 40  2.43  cos 60  3.72 cm (correct to 2 d.p.) .

 The formula a  b cos C  c cos B is out-of-syllabus. It can be used in MC only.

 In example 5, the given conditions are redundant（過多的）. If the length of AB (or

CA) is not given, the question is still solvable.

Let us end the discussion by

sin x
IQ Question. Simplify .
n

Page 7 of 7