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Trigonometric functions and their reciprocals on the unit circle. All of the right-angled triangles are similar, i.e. the ratios between their corresponding sides are the same. For sin, cos and tan the unit-length radius forms the hypotenuse of the triangle that defines them.
Frequently, especially in trigonometry, the unit circle is the circle of radius 1 centered at the origin (0, 0) in the Cartesian coordinate system in the Euclidean plane. In topology, it is often denoted as S 1 because it is a one-dimensional unit n-sphere. [2] [note 1] If (x, y) is a point on the unit circle's circumference, then | x | and | y ...
When radians (rad) are employed, the angle is given as the length of the arc of the unit circle subtended by it: the angle that subtends an arc of length 1 on the unit circle is 1 rad (≈ 57.3°), and a complete turn (360°) is an angle of 2 π (≈ 6.28) rad.
Similar right triangles illustrating the tangent and secant trigonometric functions Trigonometric functions and their reciprocals on the unit circle. The Pythagorean theorem applied to the blue triangle shows the identity 1 + cot 2 θ = csc 2 θ, and applied to the red triangle shows that 1 + tan 2 θ = sec 2 θ.
Geometrically, the construction goes like this: for any point (cos φ, sin φ) on the unit circle, draw the line passing through it and the point (−1, 0). This point crosses the y-axis at some point y = t. One can show using simple geometry that t = tan(φ/2). The equation for the drawn line is y = (1 + x)t.
Fig. 1a – Sine and cosine of an angle θ defined using the unit circle Indication of the sign and amount of key angles according to rotation direction. Trigonometric ratios can also be represented using the unit circle, which is the circle of radius 1 centered at the origin in the plane. [37]
Illustration of the sine and tangent inequalities. The figure at the right shows a sector of a circle with radius 1. The sector is θ/(2 π) of the whole circle, so its area is θ/2. We assume here that θ < π /2. = = = =
In mathematics, the values of the trigonometric functions can be expressed approximately, as in (/), or exactly, as in (/) = /.While trigonometric tables contain many approximate values, the exact values for certain angles can be expressed by a combination of arithmetic operations and square roots.