Ohio State MATH 1149: Trigonometry
MATH 1149 covers trigonometric functions, identities, equations, and applications: the trig half of the precalculus preparation for MATH 1151. It's the standard route for students whose placement score clears algebra but not trig, and it runs every term at high enrollment.
Fennie is independent and not affiliated with The Ohio State University. This is an unofficial study guide.
What makes it hard
Trig is identity-heavy, and the common exams expect you to verify and manipulate identities rather than just evaluate functions, a proof-like skill most students haven't practiced since geometry. The unit circle has to be genuinely memorized, because exam pacing leaves no time to re-derive values, and graphing transformations of sine and cosine punish anyone who learned the shapes by recognition instead of construction.
What you'll cover
- • The unit circle and radian measure
- • Graphs of trigonometric functions
- • Trigonometric identities and verification
- • Solving trigonometric equations
- • Inverse trigonometric functions
- • Law of Sines and Law of Cosines
The MATH 1149 study guide
How to study for Ohio State MATH 1149, step by step.
- 1
Own the unit circle in week one
Every later topic in MATH 1149 assumes instant recall of unit-circle values. Drill it daily until sin and cos at the standard angles are reflexes, not calculations.
- 2
Verify identities on paper, repeatedly
Identity verification is the exam skill students practice least. Work through dozens of verifications by hand, writing every step, until you recognize the standard moves on sight.
- 3
Graph by construction, not recognition
Build sine and cosine transformations from amplitude, period, and shift every time. Exams ask for graphs you haven't seen, and recognition-based studying fails exactly there.
- 4
Use Carmen quizzes as a weekly diagnostic
Every quiz miss is a topic that will reappear on the midterm. Rework misses the same week instead of letting them stack.
Today
Today's MATH 1149 plan
What a Fennie Daily Plan looks like for MATH 1149. Yours is built from your own syllabus and adapts every day to your deadlines and progress.
First plan free, no card required. Fennie is independent and unaffiliated with your school.
FAQ
Is MATH 1149 hard at Ohio State?
It's harder than students expect for a precalc-level course. Identity verification is a new kind of thinking for most people, and the exams move fast enough that unit-circle values have to be memorized cold. Daily short practice handles it; weekly cramming doesn't.
Do I need MATH 1149 before MATH 1151?
If your placement score puts you below calculus-ready, yes. 1149 (or 1150, which combines algebra and trig) is the standard path. Calculus uses trig constantly from the chain rule onward, so skipping shaky trig prep tends to resurface as a calculus problem.
What's the difference between MATH 1149 and MATH 1150?
1149 is trigonometry alone, for students whose college algebra is already solid. 1150 is the full precalculus course covering both algebra and trig in one five-credit semester. Your placement score and advisor determine which fits.
More Ohio State courses
MATH 1151: Calculus I
MATH 1151 is Ohio State's standard first-semester calculus course, covering limits, derivatives, and an introduction to integration. It is required for most STEM, pre-med, and business-adjacent majors, which makes it one of the highest-enrollment courses on campus, taught in large lectures with recitation sections.
MATH 1148: College Algebra
MATH 1148 is Ohio State's college algebra course (functions, polynomials, rationals, exponentials, and logarithms) and the on-ramp to precalculus and the calculus sequence. Thousands of students take it every year, many placed there by the math placement test rather than by choice.
MATH 1172: Engineering Mathematics A
MATH 1172 is the accelerated second calculus course for engineering majors, combining integration techniques, sequences and series, and an introduction to multivariable ideas into one five-credit semester. It follows MATH 1151 and is a prerequisite gate for most of the College of Engineering's sophomore curriculum.
MATH 1150: Precalculus
MATH 1150 is Ohio State's combined precalculus course, covering college algebra and trigonometry in a single five-credit semester as the direct on-ramp to MATH 1151. It's the compressed alternative to taking MATH 1148 and 1149 separately, which makes the pace its defining feature.