Contents

• Page 1. Introduction
• Page 2. Sine function.
• Page 3. Cosine function.
• Page 4. Tangent and cotangent functions.
• Page 5. Trigonometric functions applet.

The applet on Page 5 will draw graphs of all four trigonometric functions. Help on how to use the applet is available under Help on the applet's menu bar.

The Information on Pages 2 to 5 deals with four trigonometric functions: the sine, cosine, tangent, and cotangent functions. It is pointed out on Pages 2 to 4 how to apply the trigonometric functions to calculations with scalar components of vectors.

All four trigonometric functions named above are defined for arguments ranging from minus to plus infinity. (The tangent and cotangent functions are infinite at certain discrete points.) For angles between 0 and 90^o, or 0 to p/2 rad, the four functions can be defined by means of ratios of sides in a right-angle triangle. To review these definitions, go to Basic Math/Trigonometry/Get Information/Definitions. Here the more general definitions of these functions will be presented which are not restricted to angles between 0 and 90^o.