Trigonometry Examples

Graph y=cos(x)-2
Step 1
Use the form to find the variables used to find the amplitude, period, phase shift, and vertical shift.
Step 2
Find the amplitude .
Amplitude:
Step 3
Find the period using the formula .
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Step 3.1
Find the period of .
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Step 3.1.1
The period of the function can be calculated using .
Step 3.1.2
Replace with in the formula for period.
Step 3.1.3
The absolute value is the distance between a number and zero. The distance between and is .
Step 3.1.4
Divide by .
Step 3.2
Find the period of .
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Step 3.2.1
The period of the function can be calculated using .
Step 3.2.2
Replace with in the formula for period.
Step 3.2.3
The absolute value is the distance between a number and zero. The distance between and is .
Step 3.2.4
Divide by .
Step 3.3
The period of addition/subtraction of trig functions is the maximum of the individual periods.
Step 4
Find the phase shift using the formula .
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Step 4.1
The phase shift of the function can be calculated from .
Phase Shift:
Step 4.2
Replace the values of and in the equation for phase shift.
Phase Shift:
Step 4.3
Divide by .
Phase Shift:
Phase Shift:
Step 5
List the properties of the trigonometric function.
Amplitude:
Period:
Phase Shift: None
Vertical Shift:
Step 6
Select a few points to graph.
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Step 6.1
Find the point at .
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Step 6.1.1
Replace the variable with in the expression.
Step 6.1.2
Simplify the result.
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Step 6.1.2.1
The exact value of is .
Step 6.1.2.2
Subtract from .
Step 6.1.2.3
The final answer is .
Step 6.2
Find the point at .
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Step 6.2.1
Replace the variable with in the expression.
Step 6.2.2
Simplify the result.
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Step 6.2.2.1
The exact value of is .
Step 6.2.2.2
Subtract from .
Step 6.2.2.3
The final answer is .
Step 6.3
Find the point at .
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Step 6.3.1
Replace the variable with in the expression.
Step 6.3.2
Simplify the result.
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Step 6.3.2.1
Simplify each term.
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Step 6.3.2.1.1
Apply the reference angle by finding the angle with equivalent trig values in the first quadrant. Make the expression negative because cosine is negative in the second quadrant.
Step 6.3.2.1.2
The exact value of is .
Step 6.3.2.1.3
Multiply by .
Step 6.3.2.2
Subtract from .
Step 6.3.2.3
The final answer is .
Step 6.4
Find the point at .
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Step 6.4.1
Replace the variable with in the expression.
Step 6.4.2
Simplify the result.
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Step 6.4.2.1
Simplify each term.
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Step 6.4.2.1.1
Apply the reference angle by finding the angle with equivalent trig values in the first quadrant.
Step 6.4.2.1.2
The exact value of is .
Step 6.4.2.2
Subtract from .
Step 6.4.2.3
The final answer is .
Step 6.5
Find the point at .
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Step 6.5.1
Replace the variable with in the expression.
Step 6.5.2
Simplify the result.
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Step 6.5.2.1
Simplify each term.
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Step 6.5.2.1.1
Subtract full rotations of until the angle is greater than or equal to and less than .
Step 6.5.2.1.2
The exact value of is .
Step 6.5.2.2
Subtract from .
Step 6.5.2.3
The final answer is .
Step 6.6
List the points in a table.
Step 7
The trig function can be graphed using the amplitude, period, phase shift, vertical shift, and the points.
Amplitude:
Period:
Phase Shift: None
Vertical Shift:
Step 8