Sign, Domain and range of T-ratios
Sign of t-ratios
| Quadrant | I | II | III | IV |
| T-ratios which are +ve | All |
sin cosec |
tan cot |
cos sec |
This table can be memorised with the help of phrase "Add Sugar To Coffee"
| Add | Sugar | To | Coffee |
| All | Sin | Tan | Cos |
| I | II | III | IV |
Domain of T-ratios
| Function | Domain |
| sin, cos | all real numbers |
| tan, sec | all real numbers other than
(2 n +1) |
| cot, cosec | all real numbers other than
n |
Limits of T-ratios (i.e. range)
The maximum and minimum values of sin
and cos
are +1 and -1 respectively.
Thus, -1
cos
1 and -1
sin
1
| Function | Range |
| sin, cos | [-1, 1] |
| tan, cot | any real value |
| sec, cosec | any real value except (-1, 1) |
Illustrative Examples
Example
If tan
= -2, find the values of the
remaining trigonometric ratios of
.
Solution
Given tan
= -2 which is - ve, therefore,
lies in second or fourth quadrant.
Also sec²
= 1 + tan²
= 1 +(-2)² =
5
=> sec
= ±
5
Two cases arise:
Case I. When
lies in the second quadrant, sec
is - ve.
sec
= -
5 =>
cos
= -1/
5
sin
= (sin
/cos
).cos
= tan
. cos
= (-2).(-1/
5)
= 2/
5
=> cosec
= (
5)/2
Also tan
= -2 => cot
= -1/2
Case II. When
lies in the fourth quadrant, sec
is + ve.
sec
=
5 =>
cos
= 1/
5
sin
= (sin
/cos
).cos
= tan
. cos
= (-2).(1/
5)
= -2/
5
=> cosec
= -(
5)/2
Also tan
= -2 => cot
= -1/2
Example
Prove that sin
= x + 1/x is not
possible for real x.
Solution
When x > 0, x +1/x = (
x - 1/
x)² +2
2
When x < 0, let x = -y where y > 0. Then

Thus x +1/x
2 or x +1/x
-2
=> sin
2
or sin
-2
Also, we know that -1
sin
1
Hence sin
= x +1/x is not possible for any real x.
Aliter.
sin
= x +1/x => x 2
-sin
. x +1 = 0
It is a quadratic in x. As x is real, it has real roots
=> (-sin
)² -4. 1. 1
0
(discriminant
0)
=> sin²
4 =>
|sin
|
2
=> sin ![]()
-2 or sin
2
Also we know that 1
sin
-1
Hence sin
= x +1/x is not possible for any real x.
Example
Is the equation 2 sin²
-cos
+4 = 0 possible?
Solution
2 sin²
-cos
+4 = 0
=> 2 (1 -cos²
) -cos
+4 = 0
=> -2 cos²
+cos
-6 = 0
=> 2 cos²
+cos
-6 = 0
=> (2 cos
-3)(cos
+ 2) = 0
=> 2 cos
-3 = 0 or cos
+2 = 0
=> cos
= 3/2 or cos
= -2, both of which are impossible as -1
cos
1.
Hence the equation 2 sin²
-cos
+4
= 0 is not possible.
Exercise
- Which of the six t-ratios are positive for the angles
(i) 240° (ii) -420°? - Find the other five t-ratios if
(i) cos A = 1/2 and A lies in the second quadrant
(ii) sin A = 3/5 and
/2 < A < 
(iii) tan A = 3/2 and A does not lie in first quadrant
(iv) cot A = 12/5 and
< A < 3/2
- In which quadrant does
lie if
(i) cos
is positive and tan
is
negative
(ii) both sin
and cos
are
negative
(iii) sin
= 4/5 and cos
= 3/5
(iv) sin
= 2/3 and cos
= 1/3 - For what real values of x is the equation 2 cos
= x
+1/x possible? - If sin
sec
= -1 and
lies in the second quadrant, find sin
and sec
. - If sec A = x +1/4x, prove that sec A +tan A = 2 x or 1/2x.
- If sin
= 12/13 and
lies in the
second quadrant, show that
sec
+tan
= -5. - If sin
: cos
: :
3 : 1, find sin
, cos
.
Answers
1. (i) tan, cot (ii) cos, sec2. (i) sin A =
(ii) cos A = 4/5, tan A = 3/4, cot A = 4/3, sec A = 5/4, cosec A = 5/3
(iii) sin A = 3/5, cos A = 4/5, cot A = 4/3, sec A = 5/4 , cosec A = 5/3
(iv) sin A = 5/13 , cos A = 12/13, tan A = 5/12 , sec A = 13/12, cosec A = -13/5
3. (i) fourth (ii) third (iii) second
(iv) not possible as we must have sin²
4. x = ±1 only
5. 1/
8. sin
