1

The power of trig

Have you wondered how your calculator knows the values for
all the trigonometric functions for every conceivable angle or ra-
dian measure? Is it likely that all those values have been stored,
like a massive table of dataor is there a way to calculate these
function values?
Of course there is! The following problems present one such Today, theres no real need to do
these calculations by hand, but
before there were calculatorsor
computerspeople had no
choice!
technique. Its not the technique used by calculators, but it is
a good one for calculating by hand.
1. Start with a linear approximation for y = sin x at x = 0.
(a) The curve of y = sin x can be approximated for values
of x near 0 using the tangent line when x = 0. (See the
diagram shown here. The tangent line to a function f
when x = a is a line whose value at x = a is f(a), and
whose slope is the same as the slope of f at x = a.)
The slope of sin x is 1 when x = 0. Write an equation
for the tangent line.
(b) Test the accuracy of the linear approximation for sinx
at x = 0,

4
, and

2
. Within what power of 0.1 is it
accurate? (For example, if the dierence between the
actual value and the approximated value is 0.0023, the
approximation is accurate within the 2nd power of 0.1,
which is 0.01.)
2. Now create a quadratic approximation by doing the fol-
lowing, which uses the idea of constant second dierences. Make a short table of data, x and
y = x
2
, using consecutive integers
for x (such as 1, 2, 3, . . . ). Find
the dierences in successive
y-values, subtracting the value
corresponding to the lesser
x-value from the one
corresponding to the greater one
(for example, 3
2
2
2
). Those are
the rst dierences. Then nd
the dierences in those
dierencesthe second
dierences. For a linear pattern,
the rst dierences are constant.
For a quadratic pattern, the rst
dierences are not constant, but
the second dierences are.
(a) Pretend for a moment that sin is going to be quadratic
around x = 0. Create a table of values using x and y =
sin x for values of x beginning with 0. Small increments
(such as 0, 0.1, 0.2, . . . or 0, 0.01, 0.02, . . . ) work best.
(b) When you dont use integers for the increment, its
more helpful if you divide each dierence by the in-
crement. The divided dierence is called a dieren-
tial. If you use 0, 0.1, 0.2, . . . , for example, divide by
0.1 when you calculate the rst dierential, and again
when you calculate the second dierential.) Look at
the rst of the dierentialsthe one that sin 0 con-
tributed to. What value is this close to?
(c) Make another table of values, beginning with 0, but us-
ing an even smaller increment. Find the second dier-
Problems with a Point: November 26, 2001 c EDC 2001
The power of trig: Problem 2
entials again, and divide by the new increment. What
value is the rst of these results close to?
(d) As you use smaller and smaller increments, the value
of that rst result gets closer to 0. Suppose, then, you
want to create a quadratic function q so that
q(0) = sin 0
The slope of q at x = 0 is the slope of sin x at x = 0,
that is, 1.
The second dierences are 0 (the approximate sec-
ond dierentials for sin x).
Actually, there is no such quadratic. Explain why.
3. Although there is no quadratic, there is a cubic that be
created in a similar way.
(a) Find the third dierentials using a small increment. You dont need to create a whole
new table. Build o the table you
created for the second
dierentials.
What is the third dierential closest to 0 for your in-
crement? What integer value is this close to?
(b) Now you want to nd a cubic function c so that
q(0) = sin 0 = 0
The slope of q at x = 0 is the slope of sin x at x = 0,
that is, 1.
The second dierences are 0.
The third dierences are the approximate third dif-
ferentials of sin x. (Use the nearest whole number.)
The easiest way to do this is to use the linear approxi-
mation from problem 1which satises all but the last
of these requirements. Then, to get the third require-
ment, you have to include a cubic term, ax
3
.
Let c(x) = ax
3
+ x. Find the third dierences for this
polynomial, and then nd a so that the dierences are
the desired number.
(c) Test the accuracy of the cubic approximation for sinx
at x = 0,

4
, and

2
. Within what power of 0.1 is it
accurate?
4. A quartic (fourth-degree) polynomial wont exist, in the You can check that the fourth
dierentials are close to 0 and the
fth dierentials are close to 1, if
you like.
same way the quadratic didnt exist. The fth dierentials
for sin x are close to 1 when x is close to 0.
(a) Find a fth-degree polynomial, f(x) = bx
5
+ ax
3
+ x,
where a is the same a you found in problem 3 and the
fth dierence is 1.
(b) Test the accuracy of polynomial as an approximation
for sin x at x = 0,

4
, and

2
. Within what power of 0.1
is it accurate?
Problems with a Point: November 26, 2001 c EDC 2001
The power of trig: Problem 3
5. There are several patterns at work here. You might have
recognized them already, although you probably dont have
enough evidence to be sure of them. To prove the patters You could certainly gather more
evidence, but that would take
quite a bit of time.
requires calculusyou might be asked to prove them one
day! For now, though, here are the patterns:
The nth dierentials for sin x, near 0, have a repeating
pattern: 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, and so on.
If you ignore the signs (positive or negative), the coef-
cients on the nth-degree term in the polynomial ex-
pansion are reciprocals of factorials of odd numbers.
(For x, the coecient is
1
1!
. For x
3
, the coecient is

1
3!
. For x
5
, the coecient is
1
5!
.)
The sign of the coecient on the nth-degree polyno-
mial is the sign of the nth dierential.
(a) Use these patterns to write a ninth-degree polynomial
approximation for sin x.
(b) Test the polynomial for x = 0,

4
, and

2
. Within what
power of 0.1 is it accurate?
Polynomials of the type
f(a) + d
1
(x a) + d
2
(x a)
2
+ + d
n
(x a)
n
,
where d
i
is related to the ith dierential of a function f(x), are
called Taylor polynomials after mathematician Brook Tay-
lor (16851731). As terms are added, the polynomial ts the
original function f(x) better and better, for values of x near a
particular value a. (In the polynomials you created, a = 0.) If
there are an innite number of terms, the polynomial becomes
a Taylor series, which is equivalent to f(x). The Taylor series
expansions for trigonometric functions allow calculations to as Taylor series can be created for
other functions, too, but not
every function has a Taylor series.
great an accuracy is needed.
6. The approximating polynomials you wrote are centered
around x = 0; that means the further from 0 your value
of x is, the more inaccurate your estimate will be. Since
the trigonometric functions are periodic and symmetric,
though, the furthest you have to go from x = 0 is

2
. Use a
calculator or a spreadsheet to nd how many terms of the
expansion are needed to calculate sin

2
and cos

2
to eight
digits of accuracy.
Problems with a Point: November 26, 2001 c EDC 2001
The power of trig: Hints 1
Hints
Hint for problem 3. Dont forget to divide by the increment
each time you calculate a dierential.
Hint for problem 6. If you use a spreadsheet, try to use the
Fill Down feature. For the rst cell, enter 1 or 0, whichever
you want to use to represent the rst term. (It may be easier if
you use 0 for the rst term.) For the rst row, second column,
enter the value of the rst term, evaluated at

2
.
Note: Your spreadsheet program
may have dened as a constant.
See the manual or the Help guide. Set up the second row to build o the rst row. Let the rst
column count the term number, so set cell A2 to be =A1+1.
Since you add a given term to the sum of all the terms that went
before it, start this entry with =B1+. The second term uses
the value for the term number (now the value in A2) in three
ways. (One is to identify if you should multiply by 1 or not.)
Enter a general formula for the nth termnot specically the Note: To do a special operation
like factorials (!), you may need
to use special syntax for your
spreadsheet. If using ! causes an
error, check the Help guide for
factorials.
second termand use A2 instead of n.
Select cells A2 and B2, and drag to also select several rows
below them. Then select Fill Down (or Fill. . . Down) from
the menu (perhaps the Edit menu). The spreadsheet will
automatically include the next term in each successive row.
Problems with a Point: November 26, 2001 c EDC 2001
The power of trig: Answers 1
Answers
1. (a) y = x Teachers Note: The technique
used by calculators is the
CORDIC method, developed by
Jack E. Volder in 1959. Advanced
students might want to do some
research into this method.
(b) x = 0: exact; x =

4
: accurate within the rst power of
0.1 (0.70 for sin x and 0.79 for y = x); x =

2
: accurate
only within 1 (1 for sin x but 1.6 for y = x).
2. (a) Tables may vary. See below.
(b) Example table:
x sin x First Dierential Second Dierential
0 0 0.9983 0.0998
0.1 0.09983 0.9983 0.1985
0.2 0.19867 0.9884 0.2953
0.3 0.29552 0.9685
0.4 0.38942
The rst dierential is 0.0998, which is close to 0 (or
to 0.1).
(c) Example table:
x sin x First Dierential Second Dierential
0 0 0.999983333 0.00999975
0.01 0.00999983 0.999883336 0.01999850
0.02 0.01999367 0.999683351 0.02999525
0.03 0.02999550 0.999383398
0.04 0.03998933
The rst dierential is 0.00999975, which is close to
0 (or to 0.01).
(d) If the second dierence is 0, the rst rst dierence has
to be constant. That gives a linear polynomial, not a
quadratic.
3. (a) Using the second of the two tables above, the third dif-
ferential is
0.01999850+0.00999975
0.01
, which is 0.999875004.
This is close to 1.
(b) a =
1
6
(c) Heres a table with the cubic approximation and ac-
tual value given by a calculator:
x sin x c(x) sin x c(x)
0 0 0 0

4
0.70710678 0.70465265 0.00245413

2
1 0.92483223 0.07516777
For 0, the approximation is exact. For

4
, the approx-
imation was correct within the second power of 0.1.
Problems with a Point: November 26, 2001 c EDC 2001
The power of trig: Answers 2
For

2
, the approximation was correct within the rst
power of 0.1.
4. (a) f(x) =
1
120
x
5

1
6
x
3
+ x
(b) Heres a table with the approximation and actual value
given by a calculator:
x sin x f(x) sin x f(x)
0 0 0 0

4
0.70710678 0.70714305 0.00003627

2
1 1.00452486 0.00452486
For 0, the approximation is exact. For

4
, the approxi-
mation was correct within the fourth power of 0.1. For

2
, the approximation was correct within the second
power of 0.1.
5. (a) p(x) =
1
9!
x
9

1
7!
x
7
+
1
5!
x
5

1
3!
x
3
+ x
(b) Heres a table with the approximation and actual value
given by a calculator:
x sin x p(x) sin x p(x)
0 0 0 0

4
0.70710678 0.70710678 0.00000000

2
1 1.00000354 0.00000354
For 0, the approximation is exact. For

4
, the approxi-
mation was correct within the eighth power of 0.1 (at
least). For

2
, the approximation was correct within
the fth power of 0.1.
6. The expansion needs only 7 terms (degree 13) to give eight
digits of accuracy.
Problems with a Point: November 26, 2001 c EDC 2001