UNIT CIRCLE

The "Unit Circle" is a circle with a radius of 1.

Being so simple, it is a great way to learn and talk about lengths and angles.
The center is put on a graph where the x axis and y axis cross, so we get this neat arrangement
here.

Sine, Cosine and Tangent

Because the radius is 1, we can directly measure sine, cosine and tangent.

What happens when the angle, θ, is 0°?

𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝟎° = 𝟏, 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝟎° = 𝟎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝟎° = 𝟎
What happens when θ is 90°?
𝑐𝑜𝑠 90° = 0, 𝑠𝑖𝑛 90° = 1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑛 90° is undefined

Try It Yourself!
Have a try! Move the mouse around to see how different angles (in radians or degrees) affect
sine, cosine and tangent
The "sides" can be positive or negative according to the rules of Cartesian coordinates. This
makes the sine, cosine and tangent change between positive and negative values also.

Also try the Interactive Unit Circle.

PYTHAGORAS

Pythagoras' Theorem says that for a right angled triangle, the square of the long side equals the
sum of the squares of the other two sides:
𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 = 12
But 12 is just 1, so:
𝑥2 + 𝑦2 = 1
EQUATION OF THE UNIT CIRCLE
Also, since 𝒙 = 𝒄𝒐𝒔 and 𝒚 = 𝒔𝒊𝒏, we get:
(𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝜃))2 + (𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝜃))2 = 1
a useful "identity"

IMPORTANT ANGLES: 30°, 45° AND 60°

You should try to remember sin, cos and tan for the angles 30°, 45° and 60°.
Yes, yes, it is a pain to have to remember things, but it will make life easier when you know
them, not just in exams, but other times when you need to do quick estimates, etc.
These are the values you should remember!

𝒔𝒊𝒏
Angle 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝑻𝒂𝒏 =
𝒄𝒐𝒔

1 √3 1 √3
30° =
2 2 √3 3

45° √2 √2 1
2 2

√3 1
60° √3
2 2

HOW TO REMEMBER?
To help you remember, sin goes "1,2,3" :
√1 1
𝒔𝒊𝒏(𝟑𝟎°) = = 2 (𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 √1 = 1)
2

√2
𝑠𝑖𝑛(45°) =
2
√3
𝑠𝑖𝑛(60°) =
2

And cos goes "3,2,1"

√3
𝑐𝑜𝑠(30°) =
2
√2
cos(45°) =
2
√1 1
cos(60°) = =
2 2

Just 3 Numbers
1 √2 √3
In fact, knowing 3 numbers is enough: 2 , and
2 2

Because they work for both cos and sin:

What about tan?
𝑠𝑖𝑛
Well, 𝑡𝑎𝑛 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠, so we can calculate it like this:
1
𝑠𝑖𝑛(30°) 1 √3
𝑡𝑎𝑛(30°) = = 2 = =
𝑐𝑜𝑠(30°) √3 √3 3
2
√2
𝑠𝑖𝑛(45°)
𝑡𝑎𝑛(45°) = = 2 =1
cos(45°) √2
2
√3
𝑠𝑖𝑛(60°) 2 = √3
𝑡𝑎𝑛(60°) = =
𝑐𝑜𝑠(60°) 1
2
1 √3
* Note: writing may cost you marks (see Rational Denominators), so instead use
√3 3

Quick Sketch
Another way to help you remember 30° and 60° is to make a quick sketch:

Draw a triangle with side lengths of 2

Cut in half. Pythagoras says the new side is √3
12 + (√3)2 = 22
1 + 3 = 4

Then use sohcahtoa for sin, cos or tan

Note :

Sohca...what? Just an easy way to remember how Sine, Cosine and

Tangent work:

Soh... Sine = Opposite / Hypotenuse

...cah... Cosine = Adjacent / Hypotenuse

...toa Tangent = Opposite / Adjacent

Example: 𝒔𝒊𝒏(𝟑𝟎°)
Sine: sohcahtoa
sine is opposite divided by hypotenuse
𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 1
𝑠𝑖𝑛(30°) = =
ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒 2
THE WHOLE CIRCLE

For the whole circle we need values in every quadrant, with the correct plus
or minus sign as per Cartesian Coordinates:

Note that cos is first and sin is second, so it goes (cos, sin):
Example: What is 𝒔(𝟑𝟑𝟎°) ?

√3
Make a sketch like this, and we can see it is the "long" value 2

And this is the same Unit Circle in radians.

Example: What is 𝑛(7𝜋/6) ?

Footnote: where do the values come from?

We can use the equation 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 = 1 to find the lengths of x and y (which are equal
to cos and sin when the radius is 1):
45 Degrees
For 45 degrees, x and y are equal, so 𝑦 = 𝑥:
𝑥2 + 𝑥2 = 1
2𝑥 2 = 1
1
𝑥2 =
2

1
𝑥 = 𝑦 = √
2

60 Degrees
Take an equilateral triangle (all sides are equal and all angles are 60°) and split it down the
middle.

1
The "x" side is now 2,
And the "y" side is:
1 2
( ) + 𝑦2 = 1
2
1
+ 𝑦2 = 1
4
1 3
𝑦2 = 1 − =
4 4

3 √3
𝑦 = √ =
4 2

30 Degrees
3 1
30° is just 60° with x and y swapped, so 𝑥 = √4 and 𝑦 = 2

And:

1 √2
√ =
2 2

Also:

3 √3 √3
√ = =
4 √4 2

And here is the result (same as before):

𝒔𝒊𝒏
Angle 𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝑻𝒂𝒏 =
𝒄𝒐𝒔

1 √3 1 √3
30° =
2 2 √3 3

45° √2 √2 1
2 2

√3 1
60° √3
2 2