Trigonometry is often misunderstood as a simple study of triangles. In reality, it is the fundamental language of the universe. From the way sound travels to your ears, to how satellites orbit the Earth, everything involves the periodic nature of angles. Here at JAY Spark, I want to simplify these concepts for you.

01 The Big Three: Sin, Cos, and Tan

At its core, trigonometry focuses on the relationship between the angles and sides of a right-angled triangle. Whether you are an architecture student or a coding enthusiast, these three functions are your building blocks:

02 The Power of the Unit Circle

When we move beyond triangles and into circles, trigonometry becomes even more powerful. The Unit Circle allows us to calculate angles beyond 90 degrees. This is how we map rotation and waves. As the radius line rotates (as seen in my graphic above), the "height" of the point creates a Sine wave, while the "width" creates a Cosine wave.

03 Trigonometry in Real Life

You might ask: "When will I use this?" I find trigonometry used in places you wouldn't expect:

• Music: Audio waves are essentially sine and cosine functions at different frequencies.
• Game Development: Used to calculate bullet paths, camera angles, and character movement.
• Navigation: GPS systems use triangulation to find your exact location on the globe.

"Mathematics is the music of reason." — James Joseph Sylvester