MATH ED 13: TRIGONOMETRY

Chapter III: GRAPHS OF TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS

Whenever we speak of functions, we consider other concepts such as set, element, domain, range and
correspondence.

A set is a collection of objects which have some common characteristics. Each object in the set is called an
element. A function “something” that assigns an element of one set to an element of another set, or the
same set. The first set where the element comes from is the domain, while the second set is the range. This
assignment must observe the rule of correspondence, that is, pairing one element to only one element (one-
to-one), or more than one to only one in the range (many to one).

The algebraic function y=x is an example of a one-to-one while y=x 2 is an example of a many-to-one (two-
to-one in this case) correspondence as can be seen in the graphs below.

In y=x , the function assigns only one x-value to every y , while in y=x 2, it assigns two x values to every y
except for x=0 . In the first function, the domain is the set of real numbers, and the range also the set of real
numbers. in the second function, its domain is the set of real numbers, and its range is the set of non –
negative real numbers.

DEFINITION: Periodic Function

“The bell rings every hour.”

“When I have fever, I take paracetamol every hours.”

“The sun rises every morning.”

Every hour, every four hours, every morning, are phrases which is express repetition or occurrence at equal
intervals. This repetition at equal intervals is a characteristics of periodicity, and the interval is called the
Period.

A function f ( x) is periodic if we can find an interval h such that f ( x +h ) =f ( x). In some exercises in chapter 2,

we observed that sin ( −π3 )=−sin π3 while cos ( −π3 )=cos π3 . The sine function is called an odd function while
cosine is an even function. In general, if f (−x )=−f ( x ) , f ( x) is an odd function. If f (−x )=f ( x ) , f (x) is an
even function.

Odd functions are symmetric with respect to the origin while even functions are symmetric with respect to the
vertical axis.

Symmetry here is the same as symmetry in layman’s term. If we cut a man’s body by a vertical plane passing
through the middle of the forehead, the nose, and down, the left and right shoulders are symmetric with
respect to this vertical line, the left and right eyes, and so on.

A. GRAPH OF y=sin x
Just like an algebraic function, we also represent trigonometric functions geometrically by plotting points
on the Cartesian plane. To graph y=sin x , we will use the function values of special angles discussed in

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 chapter 2. Let us limit our values to 45 degrees and its multiples as shown in the table below. We include
some negative values to see the extension of the graph to the left of the y – axis.

x −π −3 π −π −π 0 π π 3π π 5π 3π 7π 2π 9π 5π 11 π
4 2 4 4 2 4 4 2 4 4 2 4

sin x 0 −1 −1 −1 0 −1 1 1 0 −1 −1 −1 0 1 1 1
√2 √2 √2 √2 √2 √2 √2 √2

We now plot these pairs, x , sinx on the x− y plane with x values on the horizontal axis and the corresponding
sin x values on the vertical axis. By connecting these points, we obtain the graph of the sine function.

From the graph, we observe the following characteristics of y=sin x :

1. The domain, represented by the points on the horizontal axis, consists of all real numbers.
2. The range, represented by points on the vertical axis, is the interval [ −1,1 ].
π
3. The function increases to its highest value 1 at , after which it starts to decrease. We say that 1 is
2
the maximum value of the function.
3π
4. The function decreases to 0 at π , then to −1 at , after which it starts going up again. We say that -
2
1 is the minimum value of the function.
5. The function values repeat after 2 π , as we see in the table and on the graph. We say that the function
is periodic with a period of 2 π . We observe similar properties for its extension to the left.

6. From the table, sin

π 1
=
4 √2
and sin ( )
−π
4
=−sin =
π −1
4 √2
which satisfies the definition of an odd

function f (−x )=−f (x ), hence we say that y=sin x is an odd function.

7. Notice that the biggest displacement of the graph from the horizontal axis is 1. We call this amplitude,
and say, the amplitude of y=sin x is 1. For periodic functions, the amplitude is half the perpendicular
distance between the maximum and minimum function values.
8. Observe that the graph of the function crosses the coordinate axes at certain pints. These are called
intercepts. The x – intercepts of y=sin x consists of several values, … −π , 0 , π , 2 π , …, that is, at
interval of π . It has only one y – intercept, 0.

Transformation of y=sin x
Why are some graphs of the sine function tall or short, fat or thin, and yet the shape is the same? Is it
because of the scale used? Let us look at the graph y=3 sin x . We will use the same process used in
graphing y=sin x , that is, assign values to x and then solve for sin x , then multiply to 3 sin x as in the
table below and graph it together with y=sin x on the same coordinate system. Can you see the
difference? The amplitude now is 3.

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 What if we graph y=3 sin 2 x ? Let us add another line of values to our table.

And graph all the three functions on the same coordinate system:

Observe that the period is now shorter. We obtain this period by dividing the period 2 π of y=sin x by the
coefficient of x nwhich is 2. In general, for y=a sin(cx ),
¿ a∨¿ is the amplitude of the function and
2π
is the period.
¿ c∨¿ ¿
These changes in form are called Transformations. A transformation may be a compression, a stretching, a
reflection, a translation or shifting of the graph fro its original position.

B. GRAPH Of y=asin(x−s )
For an example, let us focus on the horizontal translation, or shifting of the sine graph along the horizontal
axis, that is, the graph of y=a sin( x−s) where ¿ a∨¿ is the amplitude, c represents compression or
stretching, and s the horizontal shift along the x – axis.

π
Fro continuous train of thought, we will use the previous example. We will shift the graph to the right by
4

(
units, that is, our equation will be y=3 sin 2 x −
π
4). We therefore have

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 |a|=3 , c=2
s=
π
P=
2π
4 ¿ 2∨¿=π ¿
You must have observed that in one period, the graph intersects the x – axis three times, that it has one
highest point called maximum point and one lowest point called minimum, and that if we draw vertical
lines through these points, these lines divide the period into four equal intervals. This gives us a shorter

way of graphing y=2sin 2 x, and for y=3 sin 2 x − ( π

4 )
, we just move each point
π
4
units to the right, as

shown in the figure below.

The quantity s is called phase shift. In the standard form (x−s), the shift is to the right, whereas for
x +s , the shift is to the left since this can be written ( x−(−s )).

C. GRAPH OF y=cos x
To graph y=cos x , let us use the same values we used in graphing y=sin x . We tabulate these values
as follows:

Plotting these pairs of points on the x− y plane, we have

As in graph of y=sin x , we observe the following characteristics of y=cos x :

1. The domain consists of all real numbers.
2. The range is [-1, 1].
3. The function has its maximum value of 1, at x=0 , after which it starts to decrease.
π
4. The function decreases to 0 at x= , then to its minimum value –1 at x=π , after which it starts to go
2
up again.

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5. The function values repeat from 2 π as we can see on the table and on the graph. Observe the same
properties for its extension to the left.

6. The function is an even function, since from the table, cos ( −π4 )=cos π4 .
7. The amplitude is 1.
8. y=cos x has infinite x – intercepts, and those are found at intervals of π , whereas it has only one y –
intercepts, and that is at y=1 .

Transformation of y=cos x
In the preceding section, it was discussed in detail the transformation of the sine function. We will cut
shorter our discussion of the transformations of y=cos x by using a shortcut. Here are the steps:
1. Solve for the period and mark in the horizontal axis.
2. Divide the period by 4 and mark those divisions on the horizontal axis. These are the x – intercepts.
3. Solve for the maximum and minimum values and mark these points on the Cartesian plane.
4. Connect these points with a smooth curve, starting from the point where x=0 .
5. Since the domain of y=cos x is all real numbers, the graph may be extended to the right and to
the left, observing the maximum and minimum values and the intercepts.

Following the above steps, we graph the cosine transformations:

y=cos 2 x y=3 cos 2 x
(
y=3 cos 2 x−
π
4 )
period=π period=π period=π
amplitude=1 amplitude=3 amplitude=3
π
s= , ¿ the ¿
4

π π π 3π
Dividing the period by 4, we have , so we mark the points 0 , , , and π on the horizontal axis.
4 4 2 4
For y=cos 2 x , the amplitude is 1, so we mark 1 and –1 on the vertical axis. For y=3 cos 2 x , the
amplitude is 3, so we also mark 3 and –3 on the vertical axis. Connecting the points which correspond
to each equation, we have the graph of the three functions on the same coordinate axes below.

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