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Algebra II

Honors

Graphs of Trigonometric Functions


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Sine Exploration
___________

Name:
Date: _____________ Period:

A.

Place the string along the circles circumference with one end at 0
and transfer all multiples of 15 marks from the circle onto the string.

B.

Stretch the string along the -axis with the end of the string that
was at 0 at the origin of the circle. Transfer the marks from the string
onto the -axis. Label each mark on the -axis with the appropriate
degrees.

C.

Draw a segment from the origin to the 15 mark on your circle. This
is the hypotenuse of a right triangle you will form.

D.

Draw a segment from the 15 mark on your circle ending


perpendicular to the x -axis. This is on leg of the right triangle.

E.

Place one end of your pasta at the 15 mark so that your piece of
pasta is perpendicular to the x -axis. Break the pasta at the point of
intersection with the x -axis (this represents sin 15 because this leg of
the right triangle is opposite the angle and because the hypotenuse is 1
opp length of pasta
=
unit, so sin =
)
hyp
1

F.

Move the pasta from previous step to the set of axes and place it
perpendicular to the -axis at the 15 mark. Glue your pasta to the
paper at this spot and place a dot at the top of the pasta.

G.

Repeat this process for each of the marks around the circle. Place your
pasta below the -axis when the value of the sine function is negative.
Remember that the lengths of pasta for the angles in quadrants III and IV
represent a negative value since sine is negative in these quadrants.

H.

Connect the dots to form a smooth curve. This is one period of the sine
graph. This means that this curve would repeat to the left and the right of
what youve graphed here.
Reflection Questions:
1. What do you think would happen to the graph for angle values less
than 0 or greater than 360 ?

2. Below your graph, draw a sketch of the sine graph with an additional
period to the left and the right of what you already graphed. You should
have a graph with three periods when you are through.
3. What is the length of one period of the sine graph in degrees? What is
the period in radians?
4. What is the maximum value for

sin ?

5. What is the minimum value for

sin ?

6. Amplitude is half the distance between the maximum and minimum


values. Amplitude is always reported as a positive number. What is the
amplitude of this sine curve?
7. What is the domain of this parent sine curve?
8. What is the range of this parent sine curve?
9. The midline of a sine function is the horizontal line that is equidistant
between the maximum and minimum values. In your graph, the
midline would be the x -axis, which is y=0 . Based on your
understanding of transformations of functions, what would happen to
the parent sine graph in the following situations:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

f ( x )=sin +2
f ( x )=sin ( +2 )
f ( x )=2 sin
f ( x )=sin 2
f ( x )=3 sin 2 4

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