Name _________________________________

Period _______
1. At one end of the paper, construct a circle on a set of axes, which has a radius of one spaghetti length.

2. Use a protractor to measure and mark every 15o around the circle.
3. Adjacent to the circle draw another set of axes with an x-axis that is about 6.5 spaghetti lengths.

4. Place the string along the circle with the end at zero. Mark the 15o marks onto the string. Then stretch the
string along the x-axis of the other set of axes and transfer the marks. You have used arc lengths, which are

to determine the intervals on the x-axis. Label them accordingly.
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5. Place a piece of spaghetti from the origin to the 15o mark on the circle. Take another piece of spaghetti and
measure the vertical distance from the Hypotenuse to the x-axis. Take this measurement and transfer it to

the other set of axes. Place the vertical piece perpendicular to the x-axis above the 15o or interval and
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place a dot at the end of the spaghetti to record the height of the spaghetti.
6. Continue this process until you have gone completely around the circle.
7. Draw a smooth curve to connect your dots.

8. You have graphed the sine curve. Take out your calculators and graph y sin x . Does it look like your
drawn graph?
9. Now try to graph the cosine curve. What values do you need to transfer to the axes this time?

Spaghetti Sine Curve Questions:

1. What is the radius of the circle (in spaghetti units)?
2. What is the circumference in spaghetti units?

3. Where would a triangle corresponding to 375o be constructed?

4. What is the period of the sine curve? That is, what is the wavelength after how many radians does the
graph start to repeat?

5. Compared with the radius, what is the height of the triangle at 30 o ? This number is the sine of 30o .

6. Compared with the radius, what is the height of the triangle at the 150 o, 330o , and 570 o?

7. If you build triangles only at the 15 o , 30o , 45o and so forth, marks, what is the smallest
number of different
triangles that you need to form to obtain the lengths needed to construct the graph of one period of the sine

curve?

8. Write a one-paragraph explanation to a classmate about why sin30o sin150o .
 Name _________________________________
Period _______
Step 1: Hit MODE: Set to radian, parametric (par), and simultaneous (simul)
graphing modes.

Step 2: Hit WINDOW: Set Tmin = 0, Tmax = 6.3, Tstep = .
96
Set Xmin = -1.2, Xmax = 6.3, Xscl = 1, Ymin = -2.5, Ymax = 2.5, Yscl = 1

Step 3: Hit Y= : Set X1T = cosT and Y1T = sin T . This will graph the unit circle.
Set X2T = T and Y2T = sin T . This will graph the sine curve.

Step 4: Now start the graph and watch the point go counterclockwise around the unit circle as the curve goes
from 0 to 2 in the positive direction. You will simultaneously see the y-coordinate of the point on the
circle being graphed as a function along the horizontal axis. To watch the drawing again, go into Y=,
retype an equation and hit graph. You can do this as many times as you need to in order to answer the
following questions.
Questions:
1. Where is the point on the unit circle when the wave is at its highest?

2. Where is the point on the unit circle when the wave is at its lowest?

3. Why do both graphs cross the x-axis at the same time?

Step 5: Double the value of Tmax, (Tmax = 12.6). Change the (x, y) window to 2.4, 12.6 by 5, 5. Go
into Y = and change the graphing style (far left) to be a moving point. Run the graph and watch how the
sine curve tracks the y-coordinate of the point as it moves around the unit circle. You can do this as
many times as you need to in order to answer the following questions.

Questions:
4. The period of a sine curve is the length of one full cycle of the wave. Explain from what you have seen
why the period of the sine function is 2.

5. Can you modify the settings in Y = to show dynamically how the cosine function tracks the x-coordinate
as the point moves around the unit circle?