How to Graph the Cosine Function?
The cosine of an angle is a trigonometric function, which is also called the \(cos\) function. This step-by-step guide teaches you how to graph the cosine function.

A step-by-step guide to graph the cosine function
Cosine is one of the basic mathematical trigonometric ratios. The ratio of the length of the side adjacent to the angle and the hypotenuse of a right triangle is called the cosine function, which changes as the angle changes.
To graph the sine function, we plot a portion of the graph using the subset of real numbers in the interval \(0≤x≤2\pi\). We know that:

Now, we plot the points whose coordinates are given in the table.

From the graph, we can know how \(x\) and \(y\) change:
- By increasing \(x\) from \(0\) to \(\frac{\pi}{2}\), \(y\) decreases from \(1\) to \(0\).
- By increasing \(x\) from \(\frac{\pi}{2}\) to \(\pi\), \(y\) decreases from \(0\) to \(-1\).
- By increasing \(x\) from \(\pi\) to \(\frac {3\pi}{2}\),\(y\) increases from \(-1\) to \(0\).
- By increasing \(x\) from \(\frac {3\pi}{2}\) to \(2\pi\), \(y\) increases from \(0\) to \(1\).
This pattern repeats itself when we plot a larger subset of the domain of the \(cos\) function. For example, add to the points given above the point whose \(x\)-coordinates are in the interval \(−2π≤x≤0\):


Related to This Article
More math articles
- FREE ACT Math Practice Test
- Discovering the Magic of ASA and AAS Congruence in Triangles
- The 5 BEST Online Math Tutoring Tools
- How to Identify Real Numbers
- Rules of Exponents
- Top 10 6th Grade STAAR Math Practice Questions
- The Ultimate 6th Grade FSA Math Course (+FREE Worksheets)
- FREE 3rd Grade STAAR Math Practice Test
- 6th Grade TCAP Math Worksheets: FREE & Printable
- The Slope of The Slope: Second Derivatives
What people say about "How to Graph the Cosine Function? - Effortless Math: We Help Students Learn to LOVE Mathematics"?
No one replied yet.