INTRODUCTION

The word TRIGONOMETRY is derived from the greek words trigon and metron and it means measuring the sides of a triangle. The subject was originally developed to solve geometric problems involving triangles. Trigonometry is the branch of mathematics which deals with triangles, particularly triangles in a plane where one angle of the triangle is 90 degrees Currently trigonometry is used in many areas such as designing electrical circuits,describing the state of an atom,predicting the heights of tides in ocean and in many other areas.

HISTORY OF TRIGONOMETRY

The origins of

trigonometry can be traced to the civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley, more than 4000 years ago. Some experts believe that trigonometry was originally invented to calculate sundials, a traditional exercise in the oldest books The first recorded use of trigonometry came from the Hellenistic mathematician Hipparchus circa 150 BC, who compiled a trigonometric table using the sine for solving triangles. The Sulba Sutras written in India, between 800 BC and 500 BC, correctly compute the sine of /4 (45) as 1/2 in a procedure for circling the square (the opposite of squaring the circle).

Many ancient mathematicians like Aryabhata, Brahmagupta,Ibn Yunus and Al-Kashi made significant contributions in this field(trigonometry).

Sumerian astronomers introduced angle measure, using a division of circles into 360 degrees. They and their successors the Babylonians studied the ratios of the sides of similar triangles and discovered some properties of these ratios, but did not turn that into a systematic method for finding sides and angles of triangles. The ancient Nubians used a similar methodology. The ancient Greeks transformed trigonometry into an ordered science. Classical Greek mathematicians (such as Euclid and Archimedes) studied the properties of chords and inscribed angles in circles, and proved theorems that are equivalent to modern trigonometric formulae, although they presented them geometrically rather than algebraically. Claudius Ptolemy expanded upon Hipparchus' Chords in a Circle in his Almagest. The modern sine function was first defined in the Surya Siddhanta, and its properties were further documented by the 5th century Indian mathematician and astronomer Aryabhata. These Greek and Indian works were translated and expanded by medieval Islamic mathematicians. By the 10th century, Islamic mathematicians were using all six trigonometric functions, had tabulated their values, and were applying them to problems

in spherical geometry. At about the same time, Chinese mathematicians developed trigonometry independently, although it was not a major field of study for them. Knowledge of trigonometric functions and methods reached Europe via Latin translations of the works of Persian and Arabic astronomers such as Al Battaniand Nasir alDin al-Tusi. One of the earliest works on trigonometry by a European mathematician is De Triangulis by the 15th century Germanmathematician Regiomontanus. Trigonometry was still so little known in 16th century Europe that Nicolaus Copernicus devoted two chapters ofDe revolutionibus orbium coelestium to explaining its basic concepts. Driven by the demands of navigation and the growing need for accurate maps of large areas, trigonometry grew to be a major branch of mathematics. Bartholomaeus Pitiscus was the first to use the word, publishing his Trigonometria in 1595. Gemma Frisius described for the first time the method of triangulation still used today in surveying. It was Leonhard Euler who fully incorporated complex numbers into trigonometry. The works of James Gregory in the 17th century andColin Maclaurin in the 18th century were influential in the development of trigonometric series.

OVERVIEW

If one angle of a triangle is 90 degrees and one of the other angles is known, the third is thereby fixed, because the three angles of any triangle add up to 180 degrees. The two acute angles therefore add up to 90 degrees: they are complementary angles. Theshape of a triangle is completely determined, except for similarity, by the angles. Once the angles are known, the ratios of the sides are determined, regardless of the overall size of the triangle. If the length of one of the sides is known, the other two are determined. These ratios are given by the following trigonometric functions of the known angle A, where a, b and c refer to the lengths of the sides in the accompanying figure:

Sine function (sin), defined as the ratio of the side opposite the angle to the hypotenuse.

Cosine function (cos), defined as the ratio of the adjacent leg to the hypotenuse.

Tangent function (tan), defined as the ratio of the opposite leg to the adjacent leg.

The hypotenuse is the side opposite to the 90 degree angle in a right triangle; it is the longest side of the triangle, and one of the two sides adjacent to angle A. The adjacent legis the other side that is adjacent to angle A. The opposite side is the side that is opposite to angle A. The terms perpendicular and base are sometimes used for the opposite and adjacent sides respectively. Many English speakers find it easy to remember what sides of the right triangle are equal to sine, cosine, or tangent, by memorizing the word SOH-CAH-TOA (see below under Mnemonics). The reciprocals of these functions are named the cosecant (csc or cosec), secant (sec), and cotangent (cot), respectively:

The inverse functions are called the arcsine, arccosine, and arctangent, respectively. There are arithmetic relations between these functions, which are known as trigonometric identities. The cosine, cotangent, and cosecant are so named because they are respectively the sine, tangent, and secant of the complementary angle abbreviated to "co-". With these functions one can answer virtually all questions about arbitrary triangles by using the law of sines and the law of cosines. These laws can be used to compute the remaining angles and sides of any triangle as soon as two sides and their included angle or two angles and a side or three sides are known. These laws are useful in all branches of geometry, since every polygon may be described as a finite combination of triangles.

MNEMONICS

Sine = Opposite Hypotenuse Cosine = Adjacent Hypotenuse Tangent = Opposite Adjacent

STANDARD IDENTITIES

Values of trigonometric function of Angle A

sin = a/c cos = b/c tan = a/b cosec = c/a sec = c/b cot = b/a

Values of Trigonometric function ANGLE Sine Cosine Tangent 30 45 60 90 0.5 1/2 3/2 1 3/2 1/2 0.5 0 1/ 1 3 Not defined 3 Cosecant Not 2 2 2/ 1 defined 3 Secant 1 2/ 2 2 Not defined 3 Cotangent Not 1/ 0 3 1 defined 3 0 0 1 0

USES OF TRIGONOMETRY
Scientific fields that make use of trigonometry include: acoustics, architecture, astronomy , cartography, civil engineering, geophysics, crystallography, electrical engineering, electronics, land surveying and geodesy, many physical sciences, mechanical engineering, machining, medical imaging , number theory, oceanography, optics, pharmacology, probabil ity theory, seismology, statistics, and visual perception

That these fields involve trigonometry does not mean knowledge of trigonometry is needed in order to learn anything about them. It does mean that some things in these fields cannot be understood without trigonometry. For example, a professor of music may perhaps know nothing of mathematics, but would probably know that Pythagoras was the earliest known contributor to the mathematical theory of music.

In some of the fields of endeavor listed above it is easy to imagine how trigonometry could be used. For example, in navigation and land surveying, the occasions for the use of trigonometry are in at least some cases simple enough that they can be described in a beginning trigonometry textbook. In the case of music theory, the application of trigonometry is related to work begun by Pythagoras, who observed that the sounds made by plucking two strings of different lengths are consonant if both lengths are small integer multiples of a common length. The resemblance between the shape of a vibrating string and the graph of the sine function is no mere coincidence. In oceanography, the resemblance between the shapes of some waves and the graph of the sine function is also not coincidental. In some other fields, among them climatology, biology, and economics, there are seasonal periodicities. The study of these often involves the periodic nature of the sine and cosine function.

Various types of equations can be solved using trigonometry.

For example, a linear difference equation or differential equation with constant coefficients has solutions expressed in terms of the eigenvalues of its characteristic equation; if some of the eigenvalues are complex, the complex terms can be replaced by trigonometric functions of real

terms, showing that the dynamic variable exhibits oscillations. Similarly, cubic equations with three real solutions have an algebraic solution that is unhelpful in that it contains cube roots of complex numbers; again an alternative solution exists in terms of trigonometric functions of real terms.

Applications of Trigonometry in Real life

Trigonometry is commonly used in finding the height of towers and mountains.

It is used in navigation to find the distance of the shore from a point in the sea.

It is used in oceanography in calculating the height of tides in oceans

It is used in finding the distance between celestial bodies

The sine and cosine functions are fundamental to the theory of periodic functions such as those that describe sound and light waves.

Applications of Trigonometry in Astronomy

Since ancient times trigonometry was used in astronomy. The technique of triangulation is used to measure the distance to nearby stars. In 240 B.C., a mathematician named Eratosthenes discovered the radius of the Earth using trigonometry and geometry.

 In 2001, a group of European astronomers did an experiment that started in 1997 about the distance of Venus from the Sun. Venus was about 105,000,000 kilometers away from the Sun

Application of Trigonometry in Architecture

Many modern buildings have beautifully curved surfaces. Making these curves out of steel, stone, concrete or glass is extremely difficult, if not impossible. One way around to address this problem is to piece the surface together out of many flat panels, each sitting at an angle to the one next to it, so that all together they create what looks like a curved surface. The more regular these shapes, the easier the building process. Regular flat shapes like squares, pentagons and hexagons, can be made out of triangles, and so trigonometry plays an important role in architecture.

Waves

The graphs of the functions sin(x) and cos(x) look like waves. Sound travels in waves, although these are not necessarily as regular as those of the sine and cosine functions. However, a few hundred years ago, mathematicians realized that any wave at all is made up of sine and cosine waves. This fact lies at the heart of computer music. Since a computer cannot listen to music as we do, the only way to get music into a computer is to represent it mathematically by its constituent sound waves. This is why sound engineers, those who research and develop the newest advances in computer music technology, and sometimes even composers have to understand the basic laws of trigonometry. Waves move across the oceans, earthquakes produce shock waves and light can be thought of as traveling in waves. This is why trigonometry is also used in oceanography, seismology, optics and many other fields like meteorology and the physical sciences.