Functions

B.E Owusu
KNUST

January 30, 2023

Trig Functions
Let P = (x, y) be a point on the unit circle centered at the origin
O. Let θ be an angle with an initial side along the positive x -axis
and a terminal side given by the line segment OP. The
trignonometric functions are defined as

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Trig Functions

1
sin θ = y csc θ =
y
1
cos θ = x sec θ =
x
y x
tan θ = cot θ =
x y

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Trig Functions

Trigonometric Identities
A trigonometric identity is an equation involving trigonometric
functions that is true for all angles θ for which the functions are
defined. We can use the identities to help us solve or simplify
equations. The main trigonometric identities are listed next.
Reciprocal Identities
sin θ cos θ
tan θ = cotθ =
cos θ sin θ
1 1
csc θ = sec θ =
sinθ cos θ

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Trig Functions

Pythagorean Identities

sin2 θ + cos2 θ = 1
1 + tan2 θ = sec2 θ
1 + cot2 θ = csc θ
Addition and Substraction formulas

sin(α ± β) = sin αcosβ ± cos α sin β

cos(α ± β) = sin αcosβ ∓ cos α sin β

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Trig Functions

Radian Measure
In calculus almost everything is done in radians.The following table
give some of the basic angles in both degrees and radians.
Degree 0 30 45 60 90 180 270 360
π π π π 3π
Radians 0 π 2π
6 4 3 2 2
Below is the unit circle with just the first quadrant filled in.

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   √
π 3
So, from the unit circle below we can see that cos   = and
6 2
 
π 1
sin   =
6 2
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Example 1
Evaluate each of the following
   
2π −2π
(a) sin   and sin  
3 3
   
7π 7π
(b) cos   and cos  − 
6 6

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Trig functions

Solution
2π
(a) First evaluate the angle, to angle on the unit circle
3
2π π
=π−
3 3
2π π
is found by rotating up from the negative x-axis, thus the
3 3
π
mirror image of
3

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 2π
Likewise − ,
3
−2π π
= −π +
3 3
2π π
is found by rotating down from the negative x-axis, thus the
3 3
π
mirror image of only in the third quadrant and the coordinates will
3
π
be the same for except both will be negative
3

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   √
2π 3
From this unit circle we can see that sin   = and
3 2
  √
2π 3
sin  − =−
3 2
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.
7π π
(b) For this example notice that = π + . Therefore,we would
6 6
π
rotate down from the negative negative x-axis to get the
6
angle.
7π π π
Also − = −π − . Therefore, we would rotate up from
6 6 6
the negative x-axis. So, as with the last part, both of these
π
angles will be mirror images of in the third and second
6
quadrants respectively and we can use this to determine the
coordinates for both of these new angles.

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Both of these angles are shown on the following unit circle along with
appropriate coordinates for the intersection points

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 ! √
7π 3
From this unit circle we can see that cos =− and
√ 6 2
!
7π 3
cos − =− . In this case the cosine function is called an
6 2
even function and so ANY angle we have

cos −θ = cos(θ)

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Exponential Functions
Let’s start with b > 0, b ̸= 1. An exponential function is then a
function in the form,
f (x) = b x

Note that we avoid b = 1 because that would give the constant

function, f (x) = 1.
We avoid b = 0 since this would also give a constant function
and we avoid negative values of b for the following reason.
Let’s, for a second, suppose that we did allow b to be negative
and look at the following function.
g(x) = (−4)x
Let’s do some evaluation.
! 1
1 q
g(2) = (−4)2 = 16 g = (−4) 2 = −4 = 2i
2
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Exponential Functions

Properties of f (x) = b x
1. f (0) = 1. The function will always take the value of 1 at x = 0
2. f (x) ̸= 0. An exponential function will never be zero
3. f (x) > 0. An exponential function is always positive.
4. The previous two properties can be summarized by saying that
the range of an exponential function is (0, ∞)
5. The domain of an exponential function is (−∞, ∞). In other
words, you can plug every x into an exponential function.
6. If 0 < b < 1 then,

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 6 a. f (x) → 0 as x → ∞
b. f (x) → ∞ as x → −∞
6 If b > 1 then,
a. f (x) → ∞ as x → ∞
b. f (x) → 0 as x → −∞
There is a very important exponential function that arises naturally in
many places. This function is called the natural exponential
function. However, for must people this is simply the exponential
function.
The natural exponential function is f (x) = e x where,
e = 2.71828182845905....
So, since e > 1 we also know that e x → ∞ and e x → 0 as
x → −∞

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Logarithm Functions

We’ll start with b > 0, b ̸= 1 just as we did in the last section.

Then we have

y = logb x is equivalent to x = by

The first is called logarithmic form and the second is called the
exponential form. Remembering this equivalence is the key to
evaluating logarithms. The number, b, is called the base.

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Logarithm Functions
Properties
1. The domain of the logarithm function is (0, ∞).In other words,
we can only plug positive numbers into a logarithm! We can’t
plug in zero or a negative number.
2. logb b = 1
3. logb 1 = 0
4. logb b x = x
5. b logb x = x
6. logb xy = logb x + logb y
!
x
7. logb = logb x − logb y
y
8. logb (x r ) = r logb x

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Logarithm Functions

Note:
logb (x + y) ̸= logb x + logb y
logb (x − y) ̸= logb x − logb y

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Common Graphs

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