Trigonometry

Vocabulary:
Angle created by rotating a ray about its endpoint.
Initial Side the starting position of the ray.
Terminal Side the position of the ray after rotation.
Vertex the endpoint of the ray.

id
e
in
al
s
Te
rm

Vertex

This arrow means

that the rotation
was in a
counterclockwise
direction.

Initial side
ti
i
In

Vertex

id
s
l

Terminal side

This arrow
means
that the
rotation
was in a
clockwise
direction.

Positive Angles angles generated by a

counterclockwise rotation.

Negative Angles angles generated by a clockwise

rotation.

We label angles in trigonometry by using the Greek

alphabet.
- Greek letter alpha
- Greek letter beta
- Greek letter phi
- Greek letter theta

id
e
in
al
s
Te
rm

This represents a
positive angle

Vertex

Initial side
ti
i
In

Vertex

id
s
l

Terminal side

This
represents
a negative
angle

Standard Position an angle is in standard

position when its initial side rests on the positive
half of the x-axis.

Positive angle in standard position

There are two ways to measure angles

Degrees
Radians

Degrees:

There are 360 in a complete circle.

1 is 1/360th of a rotation.

Radians:

There are 2 radians in a complete circle.

1 radian is the size of the central angle when the
radius of the circle is the same size as the arc of
the central angle.

Coterminal angles two angles that share a

common vertex, a common initial side and a
common terminal side.
Examples of Coterminal Angles

and are coterminal

angles because they share
the same initial side and
same terminal side.
Coterminal angles could
go in opposite directions.

Examples of Coterminal Angles

and are coterminal

angles because they share
the same initial side and
same terminal side.
Coterminal angles could
go in the same direction
with multiple rotations.

Finding coterminal angles of angles

measured in degrees:

Since a complete circle has a total of 360, you can

find coterminal angles by adding or subtracting
360 from the angle that is provided.

Example:
Find two coterminal angles (one positive and one
negative) for the following angles.

= 25
positive coterminal
angle:
25 + 360 = 385

negative coterminal
angle:
25 360 = - 335

Example:
Find two coterminal angles (one positive and one
negative) for the following angles.

= 725
positive coterminal angle:
725 + 360 = 1085 (add a rotation)
or

725 360 = 365 (subtract a rotation)

or

725 360 360 = 5 (subtract 2 rotations)

negative coterminal angle:
725 360 360 360 = - 355
(must subtract 3 rotations)

Example:
Find two coterminal angles (one positive and one
negative) for the following angles.

= -90
positive coterminal
angle:
-90 + 360 = 270

negative coterminal
angle:
- 90 360 = - 470

Finding coterminal angles of angles

measured in radians:

Since a complete circle has a total of 2 radians

you can find coterminal angles by adding or
subtracting 2 from the angle that is provided.

Example:
Find two coterminal angles (one positive and one
negative) for the following angles.

= /7
positive coterminal angle:

/7 + 2 = /7 + 14/7 = 15/7 rad

negative coterminal angle:

/7 - 2 = /7 - 14/7 = -13/7 rad

Example:
Find two coterminal angles (one positive and one
negative) for the following angles.

/9

-4

positive coterminal angle:

-4
/9 +2 = -4/9 + 18/9 =14/9 rad

negative coterminal angle:

-4
/9 -2 =-4/9 - 18/9 =-22/9 rad

Complementary angles two positive angles

whose sum is 90 or two positive angles whose
sum is /2.

To find the complement of a given angle you

subtract the given angle from 90 (if the angle
provided is in degrees) or from /2 (if the angle
provided is in radians).

Example:
Find the complement of the following angles if one
exists.

= 29

complement = 90 29 = 61

= 107
complement = 90 107 = none
(No complement because it is negative)

= /5
complement = /2 - /5 =

/10 -

/10 =

/10

Supplementary angles two positive angles

whose sum is 180 or two positive angles whose
sum is .

To find the supplement of a given angle you

subtract the given angle from 180 (if the angle
provided is in degrees) or from (if the angle
provided is in radians).

Example:
Find the supplement of the following angles if one
exists.

= 29

supplement = 180 29 = 151

= 107
supplement = 180 107 = 73

= /5
supplement = - /5 = 5/5 - /5 =

We have to become comfortable

working with both forms of
measuring angles.
Therefore, MEMORIZE the following:
Degrees
0
30
45
60

Radians
0 radians
/6 radians
/4 radians
/3 radians

Degrees
90
180
270
360

Radians
/2 radians
radians
3/2 radians
2 radians

We will memorize more, very, very soon.

Manually Converting from Degrees to

Radians:

Multiply the given degrees by radians/180

Example:
Convert the following degrees to radians

135

135 degrees
radians
1
180 degrees

135 radians
180
3 radians
4

Multiply the given degrees by radians/180

Example:
Convert the following degrees to radians

540

540 degrees
radians
1
180 degrees

540 radians
180
3 radians
1

Manually Converting from Radians to

Degrees:

Multiply the given radians by 180/ radians

Example:
Convert the following radians to degrees.

-/3 radians

- radians
180 degrees
3
radians

-180 degrees
3
-60

Multiply the given radians by 180/ radians

Example:
Convert the following radians to degrees.

9/2 radians

9 radians 180 degrees

2
radians

1620 degrees
2
810

Multiply the given radians by 180/ radians

Example:
Convert the following radians to degrees.

2
(if you dont see the degree
symbol, then the angle
measure is automatically
believed to be a radian.)

2 radians
1

360
2

180 degrees
radians
degrees

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