Tag Archives: trigonometry

Image: Unit Circle Labeled With Special Angles And Values

Here is a useful image of the unit circle labeled with the “special angles” and the coordinates of the corresponding points on the unit circle:

unit-circle-trig

(via http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/43200/43215/unit-circle7_43215.htm)

This image is useful since you can use it to findĀ the sine and cosine of any of the given angles, usingĀ the definitions of sin t and cosĀ tĀ as the y- and x-coordinates, respectively, of the point on the unit circle corresponding to the angle t:

186px-Unit_circle.svg

GIF: Visualizing Sine and Cosine

Below is a gif which may help you visualize the graphs of the sine and cosine functions in terms of their “unit circle definitions.”

First, here’s a reminder of the definitions of sine and cosine in terms of the unit circle: sin t is the y-coordinate of the corresponding point on the unit circle, and cos t is the x-coordinate (where t is the angle measured in radians).

186px-Unit_circle.svg

Now look at the graphs of the coordinates as the point rotates around the circle:

Circle_cos_sin

(By LucasVB (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

Here’s what’s going on: if you look at the unit circle part, the blue dotĀ is at the x-coordinate of the point of the unit circle–and hence the blue graph is the graph of \cos \theta.

Similarly, the redĀ dotĀ is at the y-coordinate of the point of the unit circle, and hence the redĀ graph is the graph of \sin \theta.

(Watch one full “period”–from when the angleĀ \theta is at the 0 position until it goes all the way around the circle. You’ll the graphs trace out one full cycle of the sine and cosine waves (i.e., over the interval [ 0, 2 pi].

 

For an interactive version, click through on the image below for a Desmos graph: