Tangent and Friends Examples

What is tan ?

We'll need both sine and cosine to solve this problem.

Our angle is in the first quadrant, so we don't need the corresponding acute angle.

Wrap that answer in a bow and give it to someone, because it is as good as gold.

What is sec ?

Our corresponding acute angle is , in the third quadrant.

Secant equals

We're in the third quadrant, and cosine and secant are negative there, so

What is ?

Our angle is smaller than π, so it's in the second quadrant.

Cosecant is paired with sine, not cosine.

Using the special angle wheel, the unit circle, we know that .

Sine, and cosecant, are positive in the second quadrant, so