Tuesday, November 2, 2010

4.4 Trigonometric Functions of Any Angle

Today in class we learned how to find the six trigonometric functions for any angle.
Defenitions of Trigonometric Functions of Any Angle
Let θ be an angle in standard position with (x,y) a point on the terminal side of θand r = √x^2+y^2 = 0.

sinθ = y/r                 cosθ = x/r
tanθ = y/x                cotθ= x/y
secθ = r/x                cscθ = r/y

To evluate these trigonometric functions, when given a point on the terminal side of θ, plug in the coordinates of that point to find r. Then plug in r and the afforementioned cordinates for the above defenitions and have fun.


We also discussed in class the signs of the trigonometric functions in each quadrant.

Quadrant I            Quadrant II            Quadrant III            Quadrant IV
sinθ: +                    sinθ: +                      sinθ: -                        sinθ: -
cosθ: +                   cosθ: -                     cosθ: -                       cosθ: +
tanθ: +                    tanθ: -                      tanθ: +                       tanθ: -

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