Trigonometry Placement Study Guide

Advising

Many study guides for trigonometry are available online. Here are some search results to that effect. More specialized guides are discussed below.

The Unit Circle: One of the most basic things you need to know regarding trigonometry is how to find the sine and cosine of angles which are multiples of π/6 (30º) or π/4 (45º). The easiest way to accomplish this is to learn the unit circle. Here is an applet to help you learn the unit circle and experiment with the trigonometric functions.

Right Triangle Trigonometry: Sections 1, 2 and 6 of this web lesson are applicable, and there are exercises with solutions to help you practice.

Graphing: You need to be able to recognize and find equations for graphs of all the trig functions. This requires understanding amplitude and phase shift as well as having the basic graphs memorized. Notice that if you know the unit circle, you can use this information to find the important points on the basic graphs. Below are some helpful resources:

Solving Trigonometric Equations: This topic is very important, and often one of the most difficult.