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The Unit Circle

A unit circle is a circle centered at the origin with a radius of 1.

Radians

Radians

  • An angle of one radian is created at the center of a unit circle by two radii and an arclength of 1.
  • The arclength of a unit circle is then equal to the angle θ\theta.
    • s=rθ=θs = r\theta=\theta
  • This means we can write a general point on the circle (x,y)(x,y) as a function of θ\theta.
Trigonometric functions

Trigonometric functions

  • The cosine function is defined as the function that takes the angle from the positive xx-axis as its input and gives the xx-coordinate of a point on the unit circle:
    • x=cosθx=\cos \theta
  • Likewise, the sine function is defined as the function that takes the same angle and gives the corresponding yy-coordinate of the point on the unit circle.
    • y=sinθy=\sin \theta
Sine and cosine

Sine and cosine

  • The tangent function is defined as the slope of the radius connecting the point and the origin:
    • tanθ=yx=sinθcosθ\tan\theta = \frac{y}{x} = \frac{sin\theta}{\cos\theta}
Special coordinates

Special coordinates

  • The point on the unit circle with coordinates (0,1)(0,1) corresponds to an angle of 90° or π2\frac{\pi}{2}.
    • sin90=sinπ2=1 \sin 90 = \sin \frac{\pi}{2}=1
    • cos90=cosπ2=0\cos 90 = \cos \frac{\pi}{2} = 0
    • tan90\tan 90 is undefined.
  • By continuing around the circle, we can define the sine and cosine of all real values of θ\theta this way as we go around the circle.
Jump to other topics
1

Proof

2

Algebra & Functions

2.1

Powers & Roots

2.2

Quadratic Equations

2.3

Inequalities

2.4

Polynomials

2.5

Graphs

2.6

Functions

2.7

Transformation of Graphs

2.8

Partial Fractions (A2 Only)

3

Coordinate Geometry

4

Sequences & Series

5

Trigonometry

6

Exponentials & Logarithms

7

Differentiation

8

Integration

9

Numerical Methods

10

Vectors

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