Need help with determing domains of sin, cos, and tan

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around understanding the domains of the trigonometric functions sine, cosine, tangent, and their inverses. Participants are exploring the basic properties of these functions in preparation for calculus.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants are questioning the definitions of the domains for sine, cosine, and tangent, particularly the exceptions for tangent and cosecant. There is an exploration of the reasoning behind these domains and the implications of division by zero in the context of these functions.

Discussion Status

Some participants are providing guidance on where to find additional resources and encouraging exploration of the functions through interactive tools. There is an ongoing examination of the expressions related to the domains, with some corrections noted regarding the representation of tangent's domain.

Contextual Notes

There is a mention of the need for clarity on the values of n in the context of the tangent function's domain. Participants are also encouraged to engage with external resources to deepen their understanding.

name_ask17
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Homework Statement



Ok, this is not really a problem, but I need help on understanding the basics of sin, cos, tan, and their inverses.

i was looking at http://www.analyzemath.com/DomainRange/domain_range_functions.html and it was saying that the domain for sin and cos is (-inf , + inf)
and then for tan it is All real numbers
except pi/1 + n*Pi
but then for csc, it is All real numbers
except n*Pi

Can you explain why? I think I'm having trouble with figuring out how to find domains and I want to understand this before I start calculus. Please explain.
 
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You might want to check the expression for x where tan x goes to +inf or -inf.
 
You need to try a little yourself before asking, but I'll aid you this once..

Tan(x) = Sin(x)/Cos(x)

csc(x) = 1/Sin(x)

What's the rule for dividing?
 
name_ask17 said:

Homework Statement



Ok, this is not really a problem, but I need help on understanding the basics of sin, cos, tan, and their inverses.

i was looking at http://www.analyzemath.com/DomainRange/domain_range_functions.html and it was saying that the domain for sin and cos is (-inf , + inf)
and then for tan it is All real numbers
except pi/1 + n*Pi
I don't know what to make of "pi/1 + n*Pi ". The domain for the tangent function is all real numbers x, such that x ≠ (2n + 1)∏/2, where n is an integer. IOW, all reals except odd multiples of ∏/2.
 
name_ask17 said:
and then for tan it is All real numbers
except pi/1 + n*Pi
Correction: this should be
[tex]\frac{\pi}{2} + n\pi[/tex]
. And you have to specify what n can equal, as Mark44 said.
 
Hi Name_Ask,

I'd like you to go to http://www.touchtrigonometry.org/" and play around with it a little bit.

While you're there, make sure to do the following:

  • Look at the bottom left of the screen where you see the tig. function names and a value beside each.
  • Turn them all off by clicking on them.
  • Turn one on at a time.
  • Take notice of how often its pattern repeats, and when it starts.
  • Examine all the "x" values it can hold and the ones that are impossible.
  • Why are some of these Tig values impossible?
  • Click the active graph at any time to "Pause" your mouse, and look at what the line does on the Trig Circle to the left.
  • Compare what you see with your knowledge of what happens when a number is divided by 0.
  • Repeat with a new trig function.
 
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