My TI-Nspire won't give me the right answers for sin, cos, or tan

Make sure you have the angular mode set to radians. In degree, the graph of sine(x) is nearly a straight line for small values of x.

Let's start with a little background.

The cot(x) is also known as the cotangent(x) and it equals 1/tan(x) which equals cos(x)/sin(x). I'm showing these formulas because your calculator may not have a cot button but it will probably have buttons for tan, cos, and sin.

Your calculator may also have buttons for tan-1, cos-1 and sin-1. These are the inverse functions for tan, cos, and sin. If you enter a number and then push the tan-1 button, the result is the angle whose tangent is the entered number. For example, it you enter 1 and push the tan-1 button the answer will be 45 deg because tan (45 deg) = 1.

Now let's look at the problem, cot(x) = -0.6.
The first thing we need to know is do you want the answer in degrees or radians? Your calculator will have both modes. The default mode when you first turn it on is probably degrees. If this problem is in radians you will need to change the mode of your calculator over to radians before we start.

If cot(x) = -0.6, then tan(x) = 1/-0.6 from the formula I showed in the background section.

This means tan(x) = -1.6666666...

Now we just enter -1.66666667 and hit the tan-1 button to get the answer.

If we're operating in radians the answer is -1.0307 radians.
If we're operating in degrees the answer is -59.036 deg.

I hope this helps you out.

It is very likely that when you change the angle unit, you are not saving the changes made.
After you finish changing settings, use the TAB key repeatedly to move cursor towards the OK button at the bottom. If you do not confirm changes by clicking OK, they will be lost.

You can also make the changes the default ones by clicking the Make Default option.

Press the relevant function key [SIN],[COS],[TAN] followed by the angle value.
For inverse trigonometric functions [SIN^-1], COS^-1], or [TAN^-1], Press [SHIFT][SIN], [SHIFT][COS], or [SHIFT][TAN].
For other functions
sec(x)=1/cos(x)
csc(x)=1/sin(x)
cot(x)=1/tan(x)

When calculating trigonometric functions one must make sure that the angle unit the calculator is using is the correct one.

Hello,
1.Set the correct angle unit required by your problem: degrees, radians, or grads. [SHIFT][MODE] [3:deg] or [4:Rad]

2. Press the key for the function COS, SIN, or TAN
[COS] displays Cos(

3.Enter the angle 12 deg Screen shows cos(12
Close the right parenthesis ) Screen shows cos(12)
4.Press [=] Screen displays 0.9781

If you want the inverse trigonometric functions you access them with arccos [SHIFT] [COS] (cos^-1)
arcsin [SHIFT][SIN] (sin^-1)
actan [SHIFT][TAN] (tan^-1)

You have to know the principal domain for the inverse trigonometric functions (see any book on trigonometry) to understand the results.
Hope it helps.

Hello,
You have 3 keys for the main trigonometric functions: [SIN], [COS] and [TAN]
To use them correctly you must set the angle unit to the one your problem calls for.
Press [SIFT][MODE] [3:Deg] for degree, [4:Rad] for radian, [5:Grad] for grad. Dependig on angle unit chosen a small D, R, or G appears on the top of the screen.

If you need the inverse trigonometric functions arcsine, arccosine, arctangent, you access them by first pressing the [SHIFT] key
Thus
arcsine [SHIFT][SIN] (sin^-1)
arcosine [SHIFT][COS] (cos^-1)
arctangent [SHIFT][TAN] (tan^-1)

The syntax for the function is
[SIN] # [ ) ] [=]; [SIN] 30 [ ) ] [=] gives 0.5
[COS] # [ ) ] [=] [COS] 19 [ ) ] [=] gives 0.945518576

Note: if the argument of the functions are numbers, the right parenthesis is not necessary. But if the argument is an expression (with various operations) better put the parenthesis to make sure the calculator is performing as one wants it to.

By the way, there are no keys, or key combinations to calculate cotangent, cosecant, and secant, but you can use the definitions:

cotangent (x) = 1/tan(x) Do not confuse it with tan^-1
cosecant(x) = 1/sin(x) Do not confuse it with sin^-1
secant(x) = 1/cos(x) Do not confuse it with cos^-1

Hope it helps.

You should buy a dog that takes you on walks.
Then you won't have the problem that you have.

go to:


mode
select DEGREE rather than RADIAN three lines down.

for function = (sin,cos,tan,sec,cosec,cotan)
arc(function) = function^-1, calculated in the first quadrant for simplicity(0-pi/2) (0-90deg), as all functions repeat circularly
just another method of notation

http://www.mathwords.com/t/tangent_inverse.htm

here are the steps in changing it from radian to degrees
1. turn on your TI-83 plus
2. press the MODE button near the top of your calculator
3.go down to options and move the highlight from radian to degree, press enter and clear
you're good to go