The solutions of an elementary trigonometric equation such as sinx=12\sin x = \tfrac{1}{2} are visualised as intersections of the graph with a horizontal line.

The equation sinx=1/2\sin x = 1/2 on [0,2π)[0,2\pi) has two solutions, π/6\pi/6 and 5π/65\pi/6, corresponding to the two intersections of the graph of sin\sin with the horizontal line y=1/2y=1/2.

Adding 2kπ2k\pi to each of the two solutions gives all the infinitely many solutions of the equation.

Topics: Trigonometry
Concepts: Trigonometric equation · Sine
Functions: Sine
Skills: Interpreting graphs · Solving equations