<< "All I know about trig is 'Sine is the y reading; tells you how far you are
from the x-axis. Cosine is the x reading; tells you how far you are from
the y-axis." If you ask me to find the sin (150 degrees) I quickly draw a
unit circle (in my head) and note that sine is the "short distance" so it is
1/2 and it is in the positive direction from the x-axis, hence the sin 150
degrees is +1/2. (That whole process takes about 2 to 3 seconds.) >>
This is precisely what I mean by "memorizing" the unit circle. I have had
students that haven't had to do this.
Karen
Orange Coast College
www.coolmath.com
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