Circular functions

Circular functions describe relationships between variables that are cyclical or periodic in nature.

Applications of circular functions extend into a wide range of real life situations including waves, engineering, and music. These functions explain the relationship between degrees and radians, define sine, cosine and tangent, and use symmetry properties to explore relationships between the trigonometric ratios.

This resource revises circular functions and within circular functions there are 3 key concepts:

• The unit circle
• Solving trigonometric equations
• Circular function graphs.

To determine if this resource will benefit you, start by answering the following questions.

• What is the difference between measuring an angle in degrees or radians?
• How are \(\sin\), \(\cos\) and \(\tan\) defined and what do their graphs look like?
• When solving an equation that has potentially infinite solutions how can a general solution be used to describe all possible outcomes?

The answers to these questions are provided on the following pages. Use this resource to refresh your memory, reinforce your understanding of these concepts, and prepare more effectively for university-level learning.

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