There are many concepts you learn during Pre-Calculus that you will not know what they are used for at first. Pre-Calculus is taught so that you learn different concepts that will be useful later on in Calculus and Physics.
Trig functions, like any other math concept, are used to explain the world around us. I don’t know if Mr Alcantara gave you a problem in which you had to find the distance, with respect to time, that a toy train going around a circular track was from its starting point, or another problem in which you had to find the distance, with respect to time, Mr Alcantara was from Julian while he swung him on a swing. This was all done using trig functions.
Trig functions are used in physics to describe sound, frequency, vibrations, waves, tides, light, pendulums, and more. Anything that has a repeated pattern of motion can be described using a trigonometric function. Also, they are used to find coefficients of friction between two bodies. Trig functions are also important in geometry when working with triangles. Economists also use modified trigonometric functions to describe how different variables like offer and demand, behave in a given market. Trigonometric functions are used in all fields of study.
The following link has a video of a funny looking professor giving some examples of how trig functions are applied to real life. I didn’t watch it all but you should check it out:
http://www.coolschool.ca/lor/PMA12/unit4/U04L05.htm
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