What are the sine, cosine, and tangent of the angle π/3 on the unit circle?
First, locate the angle $\frac{\pi}{3}$ on the unit circle. This angle corresponds to 60 degrees.
The coordinates of the point on the unit circle at this angle are $\left(\frac{1}{2}, \frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}\right)$.
Thus, the cosine of $\frac{\pi}{3}$ is the x-coordinate, which is $\frac{1}{2}$:
$$\cos \frac{\pi}{3} = \frac{1}{2}$$
The sine of $\frac{\pi}{3}$ is the y-coordinate, which is $\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}$:
$$\sin \frac{\pi}{3} = \frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}$$
The tangent is given by the ratio of the sine to the cosine:
$$\tan \frac{\pi}{3} = \frac{\sin \frac{\pi}{3}}{\cos \frac{\pi}{3}} = \frac{\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}}{\frac{1}{2}} = \sqrt{3}$$