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Topos Uranos

Summary

This lesson opens the unit on analytic trigonometry, with an entry assessment that measures the starting point; the unit turns the trigonometric functions, studied in the preceding unit as functions of an angle, into an algebraic calculus with rules of its own: identities that hold for every angle, formulas that express the ratios of a sum through those of its summands, transformations of sums into products, equations and inequalities, and their use to measure angles between lines and to recognize the conics whose axes are oblique. It presents the six lessons of the unit in their logical order, traces the history of these ideas from the chord tables of Greek astronomy to the analytic formulation of Euler, states the problem that gave rise to them, that of calculating the chord of any arc from a few known chords, and solves it in an example with the tools that the unit will prove. It ends by pointing out where these ideas reappear in the rest of the course, in other courses on the site and in science and technology.

Learning objectives

  1. Describe the content of each lesson of the unit and explain how each one rests on the earlier ones.
  2. Place in their historical context the tables of chords, the transition from the chord to the sine and the analytic formulation of the trigonometric functions.
  3. Formulate the problem of calculating a chord from other known chords and recognize in its solution the difference and half-angle formulas.
  4. Identify applications of analytic trigonometry in calculus, in mechanics, in programming and in linear algebra.

Entry assessment

Before working through the unit, it is advisable to measure the starting point. This self-assessment does not grade: it serves to show where to slow down. The first nine questions cover the six lessons of the unit, two for each of the lessons on the identities, on the sum and difference formulas and on the equations, which support the others, and one for each of the other three; the tenth is a modeling problem, which asks for a situation in context to be set up with the double-angle formula. The same skills are measured again at the end, in the synthesis lesson, with other data. The last three check what the unit takes as known from the preceding unit and from Course I: the values on the unit circle, the inverse functions and the dot product.

Entry assessment

Before starting the unit, measure your starting point. It is a short self-assessment: it is not graded and its result is stored only in your browser.

  1. Question 1Which of the following equalities is an identity on its common domain?

  2. Question 2If tan⁡θ=−34\tan \theta = -\frac{3}{4} and θ\theta lies in the second quadrant, calculate cos⁡θ\cos \theta.

  3. Question 3Calculate tan⁡7π12\tan \frac{7\pi}{12}, writing 7π12=π3+π4\frac{7\pi}{12} = \frac{\pi}{3} + \frac{\pi}{4}.

  4. Question 4If sin⁡θ=35\sin \theta = \frac{3}{5} and π2<θ<π\frac{\pi}{2} < \theta < \pi, calculate sin⁡2θ\sin 2\theta.

  5. Question 5Calculate the maximum value of f(x)=3sin⁡x−4cos⁡x+1f(x) = 3 \sin x - 4 \cos x + 1.

  6. Question 6How many solutions does the equation 2cos⁡2x−cos⁡x−1=02 \cos^2 x - \cos x - 1 = 0 have in [0,2π)\ico{0}{2\pi}?

  7. Question 7Solving cos⁡x−sin⁡x=1\cos x - \sin x = 1 by squaring yields the candidates x=kπ2x = \frac{k\pi}{2}. Which are the solutions in [0,2π)\ico{0}{2\pi}?

  8. Question 8What angle do the lines y=2x+1y = 2x + 1 and y=−3x+4y = -3x + 4 form?

  9. Question 9What does the equation x2+4xy+y2−3=0x^2 + 4xy + y^2 - 3 = 0 represent?

  10. Question 10From a log of circular cross section, 2020 centimeters in diameter, a beam of rectangular cross section is to be cut, with the four vertices of the cross section on the circle of the log. If θ\theta is the angle that a diagonal of the rectangle forms with one of its sides, what is the largest possible area of the cross section, in square centimeters?

  11. Question 11From earlier unitsWhat are the coordinates of the point P(−7π6)P\left( -\frac{7\pi}{6} \right) on the unit circle?

  12. Question 12From earlier unitsCalculate arccos⁡(cos⁡4π3)\arccos\left( \cos \frac{4\pi}{3} \right).

  13. Question 13From earlier unitsCalculate the cosine of the angle formed by the vectors (3,4)\left( 3, 4 \right) and (4,3)\left( 4, 3 \right).