Solutions For Trignometric Functions on the Unit Circle

3. An angle θ has radian measure -3π/4 (-3*pi/4). Express the measure of the angle θ in
degrees:

To convert from radians to degrees, multiply by 180°/π (remember π radians is 180°). So the
answer is -3π/4 × 180°/π = -135°.

Solutions For Trignometric Functions on the Unit Circle

4. An arc in a circle of radius 15cm subtends a central angle of

radian measure 0.64. What is the length of the arc (to the
nearest .1cm)?

The formula for the length of a circular arc (see p. 249 of the
text) is s = rθ , where θ is measured in radians. So we plug
into the formula to get s = 15cm × 0.64 = 9.6cm.

Solutions For Trignometric Functions on the Unit Circle

5. An arc of length 12cm in a circle of radius 7cm subtends a

central angle θ . What is the measure of θ in radians (to the
nearest .001)?

Arc length, radius, and angle (in radians) are related by the
formula s = rθ (see p. 249 of the text). So we plug in our
values for r and s to get 12cm = 7cm × θ , which we solve for
θ to find the radian measure of θ is 1.7142857142857,
which rounds to 1.714.

Solutions For Trignometric Functions on the Unit Circle

6. An arc of a circle of length 13cm subtends an angle of 1.48
radians. What is the radius of the circle (to the nearest 0.1cm)?

Arc length, radius, and angle (in radians) are related by the
formula s = rθ (see p. 249 of the text). So we plug in our
values for s and θ to get 13cm = r × 1.48, which we solve for
r to find the radius is 8.7837837837838cm, which rounds to
8.8cm.

Solutions For Trignometric Functions on the Unit Circle

7. The point (-15/17,8/17) on the unit circle corresponds to an angle of t. Find the exact values
of the trigonometric functions at t. Enter your answers as fractions, e.g. 1/2

We have a point on the unit circle with coordinates (x,y) = (-15/17,8/17). Then the values of
the trigonometric functions are:

• sin(t) = y = 8/17

• cos(t) = x = -15/17

Solutions For Trignometric Functions on the Unit Circle

8. Let P be the point on the unit circle U that corresponds to an angle t. Find the exact
coordinates (x,y) of P and the exact values of the trigonometric functions at angle t. Use
sqrt(2) for the square root of 2 and if the value of a trigonometric function is undefined,
enter Und.
t = 5π /4 (5*pi/4)

The angle t = 5π /4 (5*pi/4) defines the ray along the line y = x through quadrant 3. This ray
intersects the unit circle x2 + y2 = 1 at the point (x,y) = (-sqrt(2)/2,-sqrt(2)/2). So we have the
following values:

• x = -sqrt(2)/2
• y = -sqrt(2)/2
• sin(t) = y = -sqrt(2)/2

• cos(t) = x = -sqrt(2)/2