ACT Math : Trigonometry

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ACT Math

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : How To Find The Range Of The Cosine

What is the range of the function ?

Possible Answers:

There is no range that fits this function.

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The range of the function represents the spread of possible answers you can get for , given all values of . In this case, the ordinary range for a cosine function is , since the largest value that cosine can solve to is  (for a cosine of  or a multiple of one of those values), and the smallest value cosine can solve to is  (for a cosine of  or a multiple of one of those values).

However, in this case our final answer is first multiplied by , then decreased by  after the cosine is applied to . Multiplying the initial  range by  results in a new range of . Next, subtracting  from this range gives us a new range of .

Note that the  does not change our range. This is because, irrespective of other multipliers, a cosine operation can only return values between  and . To think of this a different way,  will give us the same returns as , only we will move around the unit circle five times as much before finding our answer.

Thus, our final range is .

Example Question #151 : Trigonometry

Which of the following functions has a range of ?

Possible Answers:

None of these have the specified range.

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The range of the function represents the spread of possible answers you can get for , given all values of . In this case, the ordinary range for a cosine function is , since the largest value that cosine can solve to is  (for a cosine of  or a multiple of one of those values), and the smallest value cosine can solve to is  (for a cosine of  or a multiple of one of those values).

One fast way to match a range to a function is to look for the function which has a vertical shift equal to the mean of the range values. In other words, for the standard trigonometric function , where  represents the vertical shift, .

In this case, since our range is , we expect our  to be .

Of the answer choices, only  has , so we know this is our correct choice.

Example Question #10 : How To Find The Range Of The Cosine

Which of the following functions has a range of ?

Possible Answers:

None of these formulas has the specified range.

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The range of the function represents the spread of possible answers you can get for , given all values of . In this case, the ordinary range for a cosine function is , since the largest value that cosine can solve to is  (for a cosine of  or a multiple of one of those values), and the smallest value cosine can solve to is  (for a cosine of  or a multiple of one of those values).

One fast way to match a range to a function is to look for the function which has a vertical shift equal to the mean of the range values. In other words, for the standard trigonometric function , where  represents the vertical shift, .

In this case, since our range is , we expect our  to be .

Of the answer choices, only  has , so we know this is our correct choice.

Example Question #11 : How To Find The Range Of The Cosine

Which of the following functions has a range of ?

Possible Answers:

None of these functions has the specified range.

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The range of the function represents the spread of possible answers you can get for , given all values of . In this case, the ordinary range for a cosine function is , since the largest value that cosine can solve to is  (for a cosine of  or a multiple of one of those values), and the smallest value cosine can solve to is  (for a cosine of  or a multiple of one of those values).

One fast way to match a range to a function is to look for the function which has a vertical shift equal to the mean of the range values. In other words, for the standard trigonometric function , where  represents the vertical shift, .

In this case, since our range is , we expect our  to be .

Of the answer choices, only  has , so we know this is our correct choice.

Example Question #11 : How To Find The Range Of The Cosine

Which of the following represents a cosine function with a range of  to ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The range of a cosine wave is altered by the coefficient placed in front of the base equation. So, if you have , this means that the highest point on the wave will be at  and the lowest at ; however, if you then begin to shift the equation vertically by adding values, as in, , then you need to account for said shift.  This would make the minimum value to be  and the maximum value to be .

For our question, the range of values covers . This range is accomplished by having either  or  as your coefficient. ( merely flips the equation over the -axis. The range "spread" remains the same.)  We need to make the upper value to be  instead of . To do this, you will need to add , or , to . This requires an upward shift of . An example of performing a shift like this is:

Among the possible answers, the one that works is:

The  parameter does not matter, as it only alters the frequency of the function.

Example Question #1 : How To Find Negative Cosine

If  and , what is the value of ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Based on this data, we can make a little triangle that looks like:

Rt1

This is because .

Now, this means that  must equal .  (Recall that the cosine function is negative in the second quadrant.) Now, we are looking for:

 or .  This is the cosine of a reference angle of:

Looking at our little triangle above, we can see that the cosine of  is .

Example Question #1 : How To Find Negative Cosine

What is the cosine of the angle formed between the origin and the point  if that angle is formed with one side of the angle beginning on the -axis and then rotating counter-clockwise to ? Round to the nearest hundredth.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Recall that when you calculate a trigonometric function for an obtuse angle like this, you always use the -axis as your reference point for your angle. (Hence, it is called the "reference angle.")  

Now, it is easiest to think of this like you are drawing a little triangle in the third quadrant of the Cartesian plane. It would look like:

Cos611

So, you first need to  calculate the hypotenuse. You can do this by using the Pythagorean Theorem, , where  and  are the lengths of the legs of the triangle and  the length of the hypotenuse. Rearranging the equation to solve for , you get:

Substituting in the given values:

So, the cosine of an angle is:

  or, for your data, .  

This is approximately . Rounding, this is . However, since  is in the third quadrant your value must be negative: .

Example Question #3 : How To Find Negative Cosine

What is the cosine of the angle formed between the origin and the point  if that angle is formed with one side of the angle beginning on the -axis and then rotating counter-clockwise to ? Round to the nearest hundredth.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Recall that when you calculate a trigonometric function for an obtuse angle like this, you always use the -axis as your reference point for your angle. (Hence, it is called the "reference angle.") Now, it is easiest to think of this like you are drawing a little triangle in the second quadrant of the Cartesian plane. It would look like:

Cos37

So, you first need to  calculate the hypotenuse:

So, the cosine of an angle is:

  or, for your data, .  

This is approximately . Rounding, this is . However, since  is in the second quadrant your value must be negative: .

Example Question #2 : How To Find Negative Cosine

To the nearest , what is the cosine of the angle formed between the origin and ? Assume a counterclockwise rotation.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

If the point to be reached is , then we may envision a right triangle with sides  and , and hypotenuse . The Pythagorean Theorem tells us that , so we plug in and find that: 

Thus, 

Now, SOHCAHTOA tells us that , so we know that:

Thus, our cosine is approximately . However, as we are in the third quadrant, cosine must be negative! Therefore, our true cosine is .

Example Question #3 : How To Find Negative Cosine

On a grid, what is the cosine of the angle formed between a line from the origin to  and the x-axis?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

If the point to be reached is , then we may envision a right triangle with sides  and , and hypotenuse . The Pythagorean Theorem tells us that , so we plug in and find that: .

Thus, .

Now, SOHCAHTOA tells us that , so we know that:

Thus, our cosine is approximately . However, as we are in the second quadrant, cosine must be negative! Therefore, our true cosine is .

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