Radians and Trigonometry:

A Primer

Written by: Isaac Wiebe

University of Manitoba

Submitted on April 28 2016

 Introduction

What are Radians?

We know from geometry in Middle School/High School that the circumference of a

circle with radius r is c = 2r (0.1). This is a good formula to have, because we can
modify it to give the arc length of a circle based on the angle we travel.

Example 0.1: Suppose Todd wanted to run around a circular track of radius r, except
for a semicircle, not necessarily a full circle, what is the distance he runs?

Answer 0.1: Todd would run a distance of r. This is because we use equation 0.1, and
realize that we want half the circumference, so we divide by two.

What if we want to run a quarter of the circle? An eighth? A 16th? We solve this
problem by realizing a formula for the arc length of a circle, s, given an angle (in
Radians), and a radius r. r = s (0.2).

So what does this tell us about radians? Well we know that if we use equation 0.2 and
look at 0.1, we realize the full circumference of a circle is 2r, and that r = s, so if we
want the full arc length that means that must be 2. There must be 2 radians in a
full circle.

Radians: The measurement of an angle that subtends an arc of the unit circle.
This is measured in a counterclockwise convention.

We typically use a radius of 1 in most problems. Thats the radius of the unit circle. Its
called the unit circle because its radius is 1.
Below are some examples:

Example 0.2: Suppose we have a circle of radius 5, and we sweep through at an

angle that measures 9 radians. What is our arc length?

Solution: Apply r = s. (5) * 9 = 45. Our arc length must be 45 units long. Note
that we have traveled more than 1 revolution around the circle

Example 0.3: Suppose that Todd has ran a total distance of 1600 m on a circular
track where the radius = 4 m. How many radians has he swept through? How
many revolutions?

Solution: r = s, so this case = s/r , 1600 / 4 = 400 radians. 1 Revolution = 2

radians, So there are 1/2 Revolutions per radian. So we divide 400 by 2, and
thus Todd has ran 400/2 = 100/ revolutions

Example 0.4: Suppose that Todd decided to be lazy, and only wanted to run
1/16th of a track with a 5m radius. How many radians will he pass through?
Does the track radius influence this?
Solution: We know that there are 2 radians in 1 revolution, so in 1/16th of a
revolution, there should be 2/16 radians. He finishes at an angle of /8 radians.

Sample Problems

Problem 0.1: A ball rolls around in Abbys Cat Toy Setup in a little circular track.
The track is 0.5 m in diameter. Assuming its travelled 3 m on the track, how
many radians has it swept through? How many revolutions?

Problem 0.2: Judah Ben-Hur drives a chariot in a perfectly circular arena with a
25 m radius. He sweeps through 8000 radians. How far has he travelled, and
how many laps around the arena has he made?

Problem 0.3 Some prankster decided to stick a piece of gum on a propeller blade.
The propeller makes 3000 revolutions, and then the distance that the gum has
travelled is measured to be 125000 m. What is the diameter of the propeller?

Degrees and Radians

Now that youve managed to get your feet wet in what Radians are, its time to make
the natural connection between degrees and Radians.

We know that a full revolution has 2 radians, and also one could say that a full
circle has 360 degrees. Therefore:

360 degrees = 2 radians

180 degrees = radians

Therefore 1 radian = /180 degrees.

1 Degree = 180/ radians

An easy way to remember this conversion is that Radians like pie. Therefore, we
want to add by multiplying a factor of /180 to degrees.
Example 0.5: Convert /3 Radians to Degrees.

Solution: /3 * 180 / = 180 / 3 = 60 degrees.

Example 0.6: Convert 270 Degrees to Radians.

Solution: 270 Degrees * /180 (Radians / Degree) = 27/18 radians

= (9*3) / (9*2) = 3/2 Radians

Example 0.7: Convert 330 Degrees to Radians.

Solution: 330 Degrees * /180 (Radians/Degree) = 33/18 radians.

= (3 * 11) / (3 * 6) radians = 11/6 radians

Try the sample problems

Problem 0.4: Convert 45 degrees to Radians

Problem 0.5: Convert 60 degrees to Radians

Problem 0.6: Convert 30 degrees to Radians

Problem 0.7: Convert 90 degrees to Radians

Problem 0.8: Convert 180 degrees to Radians

Problem 0.9: Convert 5/6 Radians to Degrees

Problem 0.10: Convert 12/4 Radians to Degrees

Problem 0.11: Convert 7/3 Radians to Degrees

Problem 0.12: Convert 2/3 Radians to Degrees

Problem 0.13: Convert 7/4 Radians to Degrees

Problem 0.14: Convert 11/6 Radians to Degrees

Coterminal Angles

As we proceed to learn about Radians, you may think, Hey wait a minute! What
happens if we transverse the circle many times? Is there a dierence, between our
actual position on the circle? In general, there is no dierence. See the phenomenon
below:

Definition: A Principle Value is a radian angle that falls between [0, 2]. Other
sources may have dierent definitions i.e. [-, ]. This is handy in inverse
trigonometry, which is covered in 1710.
How do we get the Principle Value? Well, how to do it is we subtract multiples of 2
from our value, until we get back into our Principle Value Range. Very straightforward.

Example 0.8: Find the principle value of 1024 radians.

Solution: Keep subtracting o 2 until we are in the range [0, 2]. As you would
have guessed, the principle value is either 0 or 2 radians, its a matter of taste,
as they correspond to the same location on the unit circle. See figure:

Example 0.9: Find the Principle Value of 705 radians

Solution: Once again, subtract multiples of 2 o 705. We can actually subtract

704/2 *2 multiples and receive a principle value of radians.

Example 0.10: Find the Principle Value of 257/6 radians

Solution: We simply keep subtracting multiples of 2. O the top of my head

(using quick mental math) the largest multiple of 2 is 252/6 = (2 = 12/6,
12 *20 = 240, add 12/6 = 252/6). Thus we subtract 252/6 from 257/6 and
we get 5/6 which is our principle value.

Try these problems out:

Problem 0.15: Find the Principle value of 25/4 radians

Problem 0.16: Find the Principle value of 25/3 radians

Problem 0.16: Find the Principle value of 49/6 radians

Problem 0.17: Find the Principle value of 51/4 radians. Also, how many
complete revolutions around the unit circle have been performed here? (I.e. How
many multiples of 2 are in the angle)

Negative Angles:

Up until this point, we have introduced the convention of taking the angle clockwise
from the x axis to be the positive angle. Verify for yourself that this is true, by drawing
various lines that intersect with the unit circle and the angles yourself, such as the
figures described in this text.

We now have a new convention of negative angles, where the angle is measured
clockwise from the x axis. Below is a figure of a line at -/4 radians.
Converting Negative Angles to their positive
counterparts:
As has been mentioned in this text numerous times, the amount of radians that trace
out a full circle is 2. So if we are given a negative angle alpha, we can convert this
angle to a positive angle beta by the equation: 2 - alpha.

Example 0.11: Find the positive form of the angle -/6.

Solution: Our positive angle must be 2 - /6 = 12/6 - /6 = 11/6.

Example 0.12: Find the positive form of the angle -13/4

Solution: We first have to convert this to the principle value. This time, we add
multiples of 2. We have -13/4 + 8/4 = -5/4 (Note that this within 0 to
-2). So we have our trick of 2 - 5/4 = 3/4

Example 0.13: Find the positive form of the angle -16/3

Solution: We first convert this to the principle value within the [-2, 0] range.
we add 12/3 to get -4/3. 2 - 4/3 = 2/3

Try these Sample Problems:

Problem 0.18: Find the positive radian value of -4/3

Problem 0.19: Find the positive radian value of -17/6

Problem 0.20: Find the positive radian value of -29/4

Problem 0.21: Find the positive radian value of -37/3

Problem 0.22: Find the positive radian value of -18/4

Problem 0.23: Determine a way to convert positive angle values to negative

values. Use this formula on 2/3, 5/4,11/6.
Conclusion:
We are now done with the discussion of radians, and hopefully provided a solid basis
for learning trigonometry. I hope you learned the following key points:

Radius * angle = arc length (r = s)

2 Radians corresponds 1 revolution
Convert Radians to degrees: Multiply by 180/
Convert Degrees to Radians: Multiply by /180 (Radians like on top!)
Coterminal Angles: subtract 2 multiples. i.e. take into account of revolutions. The
range is typically [0, 2]
Negative Angles: Go clockwise along the unit circle, not counterclockwise. Practice
converting to the negative principle value range.
I think we are ready to talk about trigonometry
 Trigonometry

The Pythagorean Theorem

y z

For a right triangle (Triangle with a right angle) The length z is defined by
x2 + y2 = z2. z is said to be the hypotenuse of the triangle, while x and y,
represent the x coordinate and y coordinate in our cartesian coordinate
system. A cartesian coordinate system is simply two points (x, y) in a 2-
dimensional plane, known as the cartesian plane.
Sine, Cosine and Tangent

What are sine, cosine and tangent. We see a diagram of a triangle inscribed
in a circle. The sides are labeled x, y, and z respectively. Note that x here is
the x coordinate of our cartesian component, and y is the y coordinate of
the cartesian component. For the unit circle, we know that the radius
must be 1. Therefore z must equal 1 in all cases.

z y

Using the convention for to be the angle measured counterclockwise

from the x axis, (marked on the diagram). Then, the definition for
sine() = y/z. cosine() = x/z, tangent() = y/x. (To be referenced
as sin, cos and tan henceforth).
Sin, Cos & Tan: Building the Basics

The first principles: = 0 radians. Note that all values of (x, y) MUST lie
on the unit circle.

Example 1.1: Consider the case where x = 1. What must y be? What
about z? How about cos(0)? sin(0)? tan(0)?

Solution: We know that all values of x and y must lie on the unit
circle, therefore y must be 0. We can also use the pythagorean
theorem to state that z must be 1, since 1 + 0 = 1.

So we have the values x = 1, y = 0, z = 1. We know now, that

sin(0) = 0/1 = 0. cos(0) = 1/1 = 1. tan(0) = 0/1 = 0.

The previous example was extremely important. It is imperative that

you understand how the conclusion was reached by drawing a picture
of the unit circle and understanding which values correspond to
which.

Example 1.2: Consider the case where y = 1? What must x be? What
about z? How about sin(/2)? cos(/2)? tan(/2)?

Solution: Draw a picture of the unit circle. Furthermore, we realize

since all points must be on the unit circle, so if y = 1, then x = 0, and
z = 1, via the pythagorean theorem.

So we have the values that y = 1, x = 0, z = 1. sin(/2) = 1/1 = 1

cos(/2) = 0/1 = 0. tan(/2) = 1/0 = infinity.
Problem 1.1: Determine the corresponding x, y, and z values for
when = . Draw it out on the unit circle, and then determine
cos(), sin() and tan().

Problem 1.2: Determine the corresponding x, y, and z values for

when = 3/2. Draw it out on the unit circle, and then determine
cos(/2), sin(/2) and tan(/2).

Problem 1.4: Determine the corresponding x, y, and z values for

when = 2. Draw it out on the unit circle, and then determine
cos(2), sin(2), and tan(2).

Problem 1.5: Using the method of coterminal angles to find the

principle angle, determine sin(2016), cos(2016) and tan(2016).
What is sin(2n)? cos(2n)? tan(2n)? Express this as a function of
n.

Problem 1.6: Using the method of coterminal angles to find the

principle angle, determine sin(2017/2), cos(2017/2) and
tan(2017/2). What is sin((2n + 1) * /2) cos( (2n + 1) * /2) and
tan( (2n + 1) * /2)? Express this as a function of n.

Problem 1.7: Using the method of coterminal angles to find the

principle angle, determine sin(300000000000000000000000001),
cos(300000000000000000000000001) and
tan(300000000000000000000000001). What is sin((2n + 1)),
cos( (2n + 1) ) and tan( (2n + 1) )? Express this as a function of
n.