In math class, these trig functions are found using various trigonometric ratios comparing the length of the triangle’s adjacent and opposite sides with that of the hypotenuse or with each other. In Google Spreadsheets, these trig functions can be found using the SIN, COS, and TAN functions for angles measured in radians. Radians are related to the radius of the circle with one radian being approximately equal to 57 degrees. To make it easier to work with the trig functions, use Google Spreadsheets RADIANS function to convert the angle being measured from degrees to radians as shown in cell B2 in the image above where the angle of 30 degrees is converted into 0.5235987756 radians. Other options for converting from degrees to radians include:
nesting the RADIANS function inside the SIN function – as shown in row 3 in the example;using Google Spreadsheets PI function in the formula: angle(degrees) * PI()/180 as shown in row 4 in the example.
The syntax for the SIN function is: = SIN (angle) The syntax for the COS function is: = COS (angle) The syntax for the TAN function is: = TAN (angle) angle - the angle being calculated - measured in radians- the size of the angle in radians can be entered for this argument or, alternatively, the cell reference to the location of this data in the worksheet.
Example: Using Google Spreadsheets SIN Function
This example covers the steps used to enter the SIN function into cell C2 in the image above to find the sine of a 30-degree angle or 0.5235987756 radians. The same steps can be used for calculating the cosine and tangent for an angle as shown in rows 11 and 12 in the image above. Google Spreadsheets does not use dialog boxes to enter a function’s arguments as can be found in Excel. Instead, it has an auto-suggest box that pops up as the name of the function is typed into a cell.
#VALUE! Errors and Blank Cell Results
The SIN function displays the #VALUE! error if the reference used as the function’s argument points to a cell containing text. In row five of the example above, you can see this where the cell reference used points to the text label: Angle (Radians). If the cell points to an empty cell, the function returns a value of zero (see row six above). Google Spreadsheets trig functions interpret blank cells as zero, and the sine of zero radians is equal to zero.
