Trigonometric graphs

Graphs

  • You need to recognise and be able to sketch the graphs of the trigonometric functions sin,cos and tan
  • y=sinx and y=cosx
      * y = sinx and y=cosx have the same shape
      * y = sinx is y=cosx translated by 90 to the right
      * y = cosx is symmetrical about the y-axis
      * y = sinx is symmetrical about the line x = 90
  • y=tanx
      * y=tanx repeats every 180
      * There are asymptotes at -90,90,270…
      * The graph gets closer to these asymptotes but never reaches them

Sketching a trig graph

  • Label the x-axis in multiples of 90
  • For sin and cos label the y-axis from -1 to 1
  • For tan label the y-axis from -3 to 3
  • Mark some values that you know on your graph