12.4 Graphs

Consider the function \(\, f(x) = \sin x , \, 0 \leq x \leq 2\pi \).

\(x\) 0 \(\frac {\pi }{6}\) \(\frac {\pi }{3}\) \(\frac {\pi }{2}\) \(\frac {2\pi }{3}\) \(\frac {5\pi }{6}\) \(\pi \) \(\frac {7\pi }{6}\) \(\frac {4\pi }{3}\) \(\frac {3\pi }{2}\) \(\frac {5\pi }{3}\) \(\frac {11\pi }{6}\) \(2\pi \)
\(\sin x\) 0 \(\frac {1}{2}\) 0.866 1 0.866 \(\frac {1}{2}\) 0 \(-\frac {1}{2}\) \(- 0.866\) \(-1\) \(- 0.866\) \(-\frac {1}{2}\) 0

Plotting the curve.

--1--|π|||21π23π2π-

The sine function will repeat itself after \(2\pi \) radians. We can therefore expect the graph to repeat itself as \(x\) decreases to \(\, - \infty \,\) and also as \(x\) increases \(\,+\infty .\,\)
Using this factor, we now sketch the graph of \(\,f(x) = \sin x \,, \quad -4\pi \leq x \leq 4\pi \).

--1--|π|π2|3|2|5|3|7|4|π|π2|3|2|5|3|7|41π2ππ2ππ2ππ2ππ2ππ2π

Similarly, the graph of the function \(\, f(x) = \cos x\,\) behaves in the same way as the graph \(\, f(x) = \sin x\).
We sketch the the graph \(\, f(x) = \cos x \,, \, -2\pi \leq x \leq 2\pi \).

|-|-|-|-|2|3|π|π2-1--232π2πππ21ππ

\[-1\leq \sin x \leq 1\quad ,\quad - 1\leq \cos x \leq 1\]

Example 12.24.

\(f(x) = 1 + \sin x \quad , \quad - 2\pi \leq x \leq 2\pi \)

\(x\) \(\frac {\pi }{2}\) \(\pi \) \(\frac {3\pi }{2}\) \(2\pi \)
\(f(x) = 1 + \sin x\) 2 1 0 1
f|-2|-3|-π|-π|2|3|π|π-2-1f(ππππ(xx)) = = 1si+nxsin x
2222

Example 12.25.

Sketch the graph of \(\quad f(x ) = \sin \left (x - \frac {\pi }{2}\right )\,, \, -2\pi \leq x \leq 2\pi \).

Solution.

The graph of \(\, f(x) = \sin \left (x - \frac {\pi }{2}\right )\,\) is the graph of \(\, f(x) = \sin x \,\) but moved \(\frac {\pi }{2}\) units to the right.

          (     )
ff|-|-|-|-|2|3|π|π2|5|--1--((232π2πππ2π2521xxπππ)) == ssinin xx−  π2

The graph of \(\, f(x) = \tan x\,\) for values of \(x\) such that \(\,-\frac {3\pi }{2}< x < \frac {3\pi }{2}\)

π2−−322π2π3π-

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