Quick Trigonometry Calculation

Trigonometric Functions

Consider a general right triangle:

Remember, any trigonometric relationship is based on the sides of a right triangle. More importantly, trig functions
describe the ratio of two specific sides of a right triangle, as they relate to a particular angle of that triangle.

We refer to the sides as x, y, and r, and to the angle as theta (𝜽). Now we can represent the six possible ratios of
these sides using the appropriate trigonometric functions:

𝒚 𝒙 𝒚
𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝛉 = 𝒓 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝛉 = 𝒓 𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝛉 = 𝒙

𝒓 𝒓 𝒙
𝐜𝐬𝐜 𝛉 = 𝒚 𝐬𝐞𝐜 𝛉 = 𝒙 𝐜𝐨𝐭 𝛉 = 𝒚

Notice that in the bottom row, the ratios involve the same two sides as those directly above them, but the fraction
is “flipped.” We call these reciprocal functions, and they are very important to remember. The best way to think
about these relationships between pairs of functions is like this:
1
sin 𝜃 = “Sine is one over cosecant.”
csc 𝜃

1
cos 𝜃 = sec 𝜃 “Cosine is one over secant.”

1
tan 𝜃 = “Tangent is one over cotangent.”
cot 𝜃

To keep these straight, you only need to remember two things:

1) The “tangents” stay together

2) Each pair has a “co.”

By remembering these relationships, we effectively cut the number of functions to worry about in half. But also
sin 𝜃
remember that tan 𝜃 = cos 𝜃 . This leads to the first major point: if we know the sine and cosine of an angle, we
can quickly figure out the values of all other trig functions for that angle.

Once we are comfortable finding the value of any trig function based on the sine and/or cosine, we just have to
learn a quick way to generate sine and cosine for simple angles. For this, we need to focus on two specific kinds of
right triangles: the 30-60-90 and the 45-45-90. The numbers here refer to the angle measures of the triangle. Let’s
look at the relationships of the sides of these two triangles:

It is best to think of the hypotenuse r as having length 1. This gives us nice, simple values for the x and y sides, but
there is another purpose. Namely, since dividing by the hypotenuse does not affect the ratio, we can start
associating sine with the y-axis and cosine with the x-axis. For example, if we want to find cos 30, we simply
√3
look at the “long” side of the left-hand triangle because it lies on the x-axis. So, cos 30 = 2
. If this isn’t clear just yet,
don’t worry! The important thing is to be familiar with those specific triangles and their side lengths, and we will
see shortly how to implement them.

Quick Trig Method

At this point we have all the information necessary to do quick trig calculations—specifically, we know each trig
function’s relationship to sine and cosine; and we are familiar with the side lengths of the two right triangles
shown earlier. I recommend doing everything on paper until you are comfortable with the method, but it shouldn’t
be too long before you’re comfortable enough to do it in your head.
Example problem: Find the cosecant of 120 degrees (csc 120 = ___________ )

Step 1: Draw a line with length 1 on a graph that is roughly the given angle from the positive x-axis, and
connect this at a right angle to the x-axis to form a triangle.

We draw a line roughly 30° past the positive y-axis and drop it at a right angle to the x-axis.

Step 2: Identify the triangle formed as either a 30-60-90 or a 45-45-90 and mark the side lengths
accordingly. NOTE: For sides on the negative x- or y-axes, use negative numbers!

1 √3
This is a 30-60-90, which means the short side is 2 and the long side is 2
. Since the short side is on the negative x-axis,
we mark it negative.
Step 3: Express the given trig function in terms of sine and cosine, and use the side lengths to evaluate it.
Remember the x-axis corresponds to the cosine of the angle, and the y-axis corresponds to the sine of the
angle.

The example function we are given is cosecant. Remembering the “co” rule, we know that cosecant is equivalent to one
1 √3
over sine. So csc 120 = sin 120 . We know that the sine corresponds to the side on the y-axis, which measures 2
. So
2 2√3
one over sine is the reciprocal of this fraction, or √3 . If we wish, we can simplify this to .
3

If we had been asked instead to evaluate cos 120, we would simply look at the length of the short side, since it lies
1
on the x-axis. So, cos 120 = − 2 .

sin θ
If we had been asked to evaluate tan 120, we would recall that tan θ = . So we take the “y-side” (sine) over the
cos θ
√3

“x-side” (cosine) to get 2

1 = −√3 .
−
2
Notice this method works for all angle multiples of 30 as well as all multiples of 45. In radians, this would be any
π π
multiple of 6 or 4 . Since we are usually more comfortable with degrees than with radians, I recommend just
converting back and forth for radian problems at first—it won’t be too long before angle measures in radians make
sense on their own.

Angle Measures on the Axes

At this point we haven’t specifically addressed what happens when we want to calculate a trig value for a multiple
of a right angle. Using the method shown above, we would draw a line of length one at the given angle on our
π
graph. But multiples of 90° ( 2 radians) will result in a line that lies on the axis, instead of a triangle. This is fine! A
unit line on an axis will have either an x or y component equal to zero. This means that for any multiple of 90°,
either the sine or the cosine will equal 0, and the other one will equal 1 (or -1). To decide which, just
remember our “sine is y, cosine is x” rule. Let’s look at an example.
3𝜋
Example: evaluate sin .
2

3π
2
is the same as 270°, and we know this angle is located on the negative y-axis. Since “sine is y,” we know that the
sine of this angle must equal the length of our line (which is always 1), and since it is on the negative part of the y-
3π
axis, we make it negative. So, cos 2
= −1.

Example: evaluate cos 540.

Here we want to make sure to remember that if our angle is more than a full revolution, we can subtract as many
full revolutions (360° or 2π radians) as we need to get a better angle. In this case, we simply remove one revolution
from our angle, so we have 540 – 360 = 180. Now, the line drawn at 180° lands on the negative x-axis, so because
“cosine is x,” our answer must be cos 540 = −1.