Question

How do you use a calculator to evaluate $\sin 10^\circ$?

Answer 1

In this question, we want to find the value of the trigonometric sine function using a calculator.
Steps to find the sine function $\sin x$ using the calculator are as below.
Make sure we are in the correct mode (radian or degree)
Press the SIN button
Enter the value given for angle x.
Press [ENTER]

Complete step-by-step answer:
In this question, we want to find the value of the sine function using a calculator.
Scientific calculators are calculators that are used not only for basic arithmetic, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, but also for more advanced operations such as exponents, logarithms, scientific notations, or trigonometric functions. But they don’t have graphing capabilities.
We also need to check the mode of the scientific calculator. When we are working with trigonometric functions of angles in degrees or radians, make sure that the calculator is working in the same mode.
The sine, cosine, and tangent trigonometric functions show up on a scientific calculator as the buttons SIN, COS, TAN, respectively.
The first step is to make sure that we are in the correct mode. In this question, set the calculator in the degree mode.
The second step is to press the SIN button.
The third step is to enter the value of an angle.
In this question, we want to find the sine function at the angle $10^\circ$.
$\Rightarrow \sin \left( {10^\circ } \right)$
The last step is to press the “ENTER” button to find the final answer.
The answer is:
$\Rightarrow \sin \left( {10^\circ } \right) = 0.1736...$

Note:
We can also find the cosine and tangent functions by following the same steps. For the function $\cos \left( x \right)$ or $\tan \left( x \right)$, we use the COS or TAN button in place of the SIN button. We can also find the values of the inverse trigonometric functions. They are usually found by pressing “shift” and then pressing the trigonometric function button.