Three Basic Trigonometric Ratios of Angles of any Magnitude and their Graphs

Three Basic Trigonometric Ratios of Angles of any Magnitude and their Graphs

Three Basic Trigonometric Ratios of Angles

  • Sine (sin): In any right-angle triangle, the sine of an angle θ is the ratio of the length of the side opposite θ to the length of the hypotenuse.

  • Cosine (cos): In any right-angle triangle, the cosine of an angle θ is the ratio of the length of the adjacent side to θ to the length of the hypotenuse.

  • Tangent (tan): In any right-angle triangle, the tangent of an angle θ is the ratio of the sine of θ to the cosine of θ, which is equivalent to the ratio of the length of the side opposite θ to the length of the adjacent side.

Graphs and Properties of Trigonometric Ratios

  • Periodic Nature: All three trigonometric functions are periodic, which means they repeat their values in regular intervals. Sine and cosine functions are periodic with period 2π or 360°, whereas the tangent function is periodic with period π or 180°.

  • Sine Graph: The sine function produces a waveform that starts from 0, increases to 1 at π/2 radians (90°), decreases to 0 at π radians (180°), decreases further to -1 at 3π/2 radians (270°), and finally returns to 0 at 2π radians (360°).

  • Cosine Graph: The cosine function waveform starts from 1, decreases to 0 at π/2 radians (90°), decreases further to -1 at π radians (180°), increases back to 0 at 3π/2 radians (270°), and finally returns to 1 at 2π radians (360°).

  • Tangent Graph: The tangent graph starts from 0, and increases as it approaches π/2 radians (90°), at which point it becomes undefined (as the cosine in the denominator becomes 0). The function decreases as it moves past π/2 radians and approaches π radians (180°), where it returns to 0.

Applications of Trigonometric Ratios

  • Trigonometric ratios have widespread applications, including solving problems in fields like physics, engineering, computer science, etc.

  • They are particularly useful in modelling periodic phenomena, such as sound and light waves, or motion in cyclical paths.

  • Trigonometric ratios are also used in geometry, to solve problems involving triangles, circles, and other complex shapes. For example, they can help determine unknown side lengths or angles in right-angle triangles.

Inverse Trigonometric Functions

  • The inverse trigonometric functions, denoted as sin⁻¹, cos⁻¹ and tan⁻¹, are used to find the angle that corresponds to a given trigonometric ratio.

  • The range of sin⁻¹ and cos⁻¹ is between -90° to 90°, while the range of tan⁻¹ is between -∞ to ∞.