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In mathematics, sine and cosine are trigonometric functions of an angle.The sine and cosine of an acute angle are defined in the context of a right triangle: for the specified angle, its sine is the ratio of the length of the side that is opposite that angle to the length of the longest side of the triangle (the hypotenuse), and the cosine is the ratio of the length of the adjacent leg to that ...
The sine and the cosine functions, for example, are used to describe simple harmonic motion, which models many natural phenomena, such as the movement of a mass attached to a spring and, for small angles, the pendular motion of a mass hanging by a string. The sine and cosine functions are one-dimensional projections of uniform circular motion.
Ptolemy's theorem states that the sum of the products of the lengths of opposite sides is equal to the product of the lengths of the diagonals. When those side-lengths are expressed in terms of the sin and cos values shown in the figure above, this yields the angle sum trigonometric identity for sine: sin(α + β) = sin α cos β + cos α sin β.
The values of sine and cosine of 30 and 60 degrees are derived by analysis of the equilateral triangle. In an equilateral triangle, the 3 angles are equal and sum to 180°, therefore each corner angle is 60°.
The sine and cosine functions are fundamental to the theory of periodic functions, [63] such as those that describe sound and light waves. Fourier discovered that every continuous , periodic function could be described as an infinite sum of trigonometric functions.
This geometric argument relies on definitions of arc length and area, which act as assumptions, so it is rather a condition imposed in construction of trigonometric functions than a provable property. [2] For the sine function, we can handle other values. If θ > π /2, then θ > 1. But sin θ ≤ 1 (because of the Pythagorean identity), so sin ...
In trigonometry, the law of sines, sine law, sine formula, or sine rule is an equation relating the lengths of the sides of any triangle to the sines of its angles. According to the law, = = =, where a, b, and c are the lengths of the sides of a triangle, and α, β, and γ are the opposite angles (see figure 2), while R is the radius of the triangle's circumcircle.
A trigonometry table is essentially a reference chart that presents the values of sine, cosine, tangent, and other trigonometric functions for various angles. These angles are usually arranged across the top row of the table, while the different trigonometric functions are labeled in the first column on the left.