PERIODIC FUNCTION

The London Eye

is a huge Ferris wheel with diameter 135 meters (443
feet) in London, England, which completes one
rotation every 30 minutes. When we look at the
behavior of this Ferris wheel it is clear that it completes
1 cycle, or 1 revolution, and then repeats this
revolution over and over again.
This is an example of a
periodic function, because
the Ferris wheel repeats its
revolution or one cycle
every 30 minutes, and so we
say it has a period of 30
minutes.
In this section, we will work to sketch a graph of a
rider’s height over time and express the height as a
function of time.
Periodic Functions
A periodic function occurs when a specific horizontal
shift, P, results in the original function; where
f(x+P) = f(x) for all values of x. When this occurs we
call the horizontal shift the period of the function.
You might immediately guess that there is a
connection here to finding points on a circle, since the
height above ground would correspond to the y value
of a point on the circle. We can determine the y value
by using the sine function. To get a better sense of this
function’s behavior, we can create a table of values we
know, and use them to sketch a graph of the sine and
cosine functions.
Listing some of the values for sine and cosine on a unit
circle:

Here you can see how for each angle, we use the y
value of the point on the circle to determine the
output value of the sine function.
Plotting more points gives the full shape of the sine
and cosine functions.
Notice how the sine values are positive between 0 and
π which correspond to the values of sine in quadrants
1 and 2 on the unit circle, and the sine values are
negative between
π and 2 π representing quadrants 3 and 4.

Like the sine function we can track the value of the

cosine function through the 4 quadrants of the unit
circle as we place it on a graph.
Both of these functions are defined on a domain of all
real numbers, since we can evaluate the sine and
cosine of any angle. By thinking of sine and cosine as
points on a unit circle, it becomes clear that the range
of both functions must be the interval 〈−1,1〉.

Domain and Range of Sine and Cosine

The domain of sine and cosine is all real numbers, x
 or (−∞, ∞ )
The range of sine and cosine is the interval 〈−𝟏, 𝟏〉

Both these graphs are considered sinusoidal graphs.

In both graphs, the shape of the graph begins
repeating after 2π. Indeed, since any coterminal angles
will have the same sine and cosine values, we could
conclude that 𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝜃 + 2𝜋) = sin(𝜃) .
In other words, if you were to shift either graph
horizontally by 2π, the resulting shape would be
identical to the original function. Sinusoidal functions
are a specific type of periodic function.

Period of Sine and Cosine

The period is 2π for both the sine and cosine function.
Looking at these functions on a domain centered at
the vertical axis helps reveal symmetries. The sine
function is symmetric about the origin, the same
symmetry the cubic function has, making it an odd
function. The cosine function is clearly symmetric
about the y axis, the same symmetry as the quadratic
function, making it an even function.

Negative Angle Identities

The sine is an odd function, symmetric about the
origin, so sin(−𝜃) = −𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝜃)
The cosine is an even function, symmetric about the y-
axis, so cos(−𝜃) = 𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝜃)
These identities can be used, among other purposes,
for helping with simplification and proving identities.
You may recall the cofunction identity from last
chapter;
𝜋
( )
sin 𝜃 = cos ( − 𝜃)
2
Graphically, this tells us that the sine and cosine graphs
are horizontal transformations of each other. We can
prove this by using the cofunction identity and the
negative angle identity for cosine.
 𝜋 𝜋
sin(𝜃 ) = cos ( − 𝜃) = cos (−𝜃 + )
2 2
𝜋 𝜋
= 𝑐𝑜𝑐 (− (−𝜃 + )) = 𝑐𝑜𝑠 (−𝜃 + )
2 2

Now we can clearly see that if we horizontally shift the

cosine function to the right by π/2 we get the sine
function.
Remember this shift is not representing the period of
the function. It only shows that the cosine and sine
function are transformations of each other.
A point rotates around a circle of radius 3.
Sketch a graph of the y coordinate of the point.
Recall that for a point on a circle of radius r, the y
coordinate of the point is 𝑦 = 𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝜃), so in this case,
we get the equation 𝑦(𝜃) = 3sin(𝜃).
Since the 3 is multiplying the function, this causes a
vertical stretch of the y values of the function by 3.
Notice that the period of the function does not change.
Since the outputs of the graph will now oscillate
between -3 and 3, we say that the amplitude of the
sine wave is 3.
Midline
The center value of a sinusoidal function, the value
that the function oscillates above and below, is called
the midline of the function, represented by the
vertical shift in the equation.

The equation 𝑓 (𝜃) = cos(𝜃) + 𝑘 has midline at y = k.

EXAMPLE:
sin(−𝜃)
1. Simplify
tan(𝜃)

2. What is the amplitude of the equation 𝑓(𝜃) =

7 cos(𝜃 ) ? Sketch a graph of the function.
𝜋
3. What is the period of the function 𝑓 (𝑡) = 𝑠𝑖𝑛 ( 𝑡)?
6

Solution:
Using the relationship above, the stretch/compression
𝜋 2𝜋 2𝜋
factor is 𝐵 = , so the period will be 𝑃 = = 𝜋 =
6 𝐵
6
6
2𝜋. = 12 .
𝜋
While it is common to compose sine or cosine with
functions involving time, the composition can be done
so that the input represents any reasonable quantity.
4. What is the midline of the equation
𝑓(𝑥 ) = cos(𝜃) − 4 ? Sketch a graph of the function.
5. Sketch a graph of 𝑓 (𝑥 ) = −3sin(𝑥)
6. Sketch a graph of 𝑓 (𝑥 ) = 4 sin(𝑥)
7. Sketch a graph of 𝑓 (𝑥 ) = 2 cos(𝑥)
8. Sketch a graph of 𝑓 (𝑥 ) = −4cos(𝑥)
9. Determine the midline, amplitude, and period of the
function 𝑓(𝑡) = 3 sin(2𝑡) + 1

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Tangent and cotangent