Unit Circle

Pronunciation: /ˈyu nɪt ˈsɜr kəl/ ?

A unit circle is a circle with a radius of 1.^[1] The unit circle is used to define the sine and cosine functions.

Figure 1: Unit Circle

Relationship Between Unit Circle and Trigonometric Functions

In right triangle trigonometry, sine is defined as opposite/hypotenuse, and cosine is defined as adjacent/hypotenuse. Looking at the unit circle, the radius is the hypotenuse of a right triangle. The red leg of the right triangle (see manipulative 1) is the adjacent leg. So the cosine is equal to adjacent/hypotenuse. But, in the unit circle, the hypotenuse is always 1. So the cosine is always equal to the length of the adjacent leg of the right triangle. By similar argument, the sine is always equal to the length of the blue leg, the opposite leg.

Click on the blue point and drag it to change the manipulative.

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Manipulative 1: Relationship between unit circle and trigonometric functions. Created with GeoGebra

Circle Trigonometric Identities

Sorry, the GeoGebra Applet could not be started. Please make sure that Java 1.4.2 (or later) is installed and active in your browser (Click here to install Java now) Manipulative 2: Circle Trigonometry. Created with GeoGebra

The circle trigonometric identities are equations that can be used to define trigonometric functions. Given a circle with a center at the origin, the trigonometric functions are defined using the x coordinate of a point on the circle (x), the y coordinate of a point on the circle (y), the radius of the circle (r), and the angle of rotation from an intersection of the circle and the x-axis(θ). Circle Trigonometric Identities Table 1

References

1. unit circle. merriam-webster.com. Encyclopedia Britannica. (Accessed: 2010-01-09). http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unit circle.

More Information

• McAdams, David. Circle. allmathwords.org. All Math Words Encyclopedia. Life is a Story Problem.org. 2009-03-12. http://www.allmathwords.org/article.aspx?lang=en&id=Circle.

Cite this article as:

Unit Circle. 2010-01-09. All Math Words Encyclopedia. Life is a Story Problem.org. http://www.allmathwords.org/en/u/unitcircle.html.

Translations

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Image Credits

• All images and manipulatives are by David McAdams unless otherwise stated. All images by David McAdams are Copyright © Life is a Story Problem.org and are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.

Revision History

2010-01-09: Added "References" (McAdams, David.)
2008-11-27: Added circle trigonometric identities (McAdams, David.)
2008-09-15: Expanded 'More Information' (McAdams, David.)
2008-06-15: Added manipulative for relationship between trigonometric functions and the unit circle.
2008-03-11: Changed See Also to match current standards (McAdams, David.)
2007-08-18: Initial version (McAdams, David.)