The Unit Circle

During the last 2 class periods, we discussed the Unit Circle. The Unit Circle is a circle with radius 1, from which all the Trig functions can be derived. In class we started working on graphing Sin and Cos onto the Unit Circle. It was hard at first, but once we began to discuss exactly what we know about a circle with radius one, it was easy. For Sin, for example, you draw a triangle into the Unit Circle. Sin= Opp/Hyp. Because we know the Hyp=1, Opp must equal Sin. Cos is also found in a similar way. For homework, we were to work on trying to derive other Trig functions, and next class we went over each function, its placement in the Unit Circle, and why it is there. An excellent representation of the Unit Circle is found here. The Unit Circle helps us to understand where the Trig Functions come from, as well as a prequel to their importance in Triangles, as well as circles.