The SIN function calculates the sine of an angle.
1. SIN Function Syntax
SIN(number)
2. SIN Function Argument
| number |
Required. The radian angle you want to know the sine of. |
3. SIN Function example
Formula in cell C3:
=SIN(B3)
4. How to use degrees in the SIN function
Use the RADIANS function to convert degrees to radians.
Formula in cell C3:
=SIN(RADIANS(B3))
5. How to plot a sine wave or sinusoidal wave on a chart
The steps below describe in great detail how to graph a sine wave in an Excel chart.
The SIN function requires you to use radians in the function argument. Select cell B3 and type 0 (zero) then press Enter.
Type in cell B4:
=PI()*(ROW(A1)/4)
Press Enter. Copy cell B4 and paste to cells below as far as needed.
Select cell C3. Type
=SIN(B3)
Press Enter.
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5.1 How to quickly copy a formula and paste to cells below
Double press with left mouse button on the black dot in the lower right cell corner, see the animated image below.
This will copy cell C3 to cells below as far as needed based on values in adjacent column B.
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5.2 How to insert a Scatter chart with Smotth Lines and Markers
Select cell range B3:C12 and go to tab "Insert" on the ribbon.
Press with left mouse button on the "Scatter" button, a pop-up menu appears. Press with left mouse button on "Scatter with Smooth Lines and Markers" button, see image above.
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5.3 How to reposition a chart?
The chart appears on your current worksheet, press and hold with the left mouse button on the chart. Drag with mouse to move the chart to the desired location. Release the left mouse button when the new location is reached.
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5.4 How to change the x-axis location in an Excel chart?
Doublepress with left mouse button on the y-axis to quickly show axis chart settings.
Press with left mouse button on the radio button "Axis value" below "Horizontal axis crosses". Type -1.5 in the field next to the radio button, see image above. Press Enter. This moves the x-axis below the gridlines.
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5.5 How to change the chart x-axis range?
The x-axis ranges from 0 to 10, if you want to only show values from 0 to the last value in column B then copy cell B13.
Double press with left mouse button on the y-axis to open the axis settings.
Type the maximum number you want to be shown in Bounds - Maximum, in this case, paste the value you copied in the previous step.
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5.6 Explaining formula in cell B4
I recommend the "Evaluate Formula" tool when trying to understand or troubleshoot Excel formulas. Select cell B4.
Go to tab "Formulas" on the ribbon, then press with left mouse button on the "Evaluate Formula" button. The following dialog box appears, see image below.
The dialog box allows you to see the formula and the part that is going to be evaluated (underlined expression). The most recent calculation is italicized, however, the image above shows the first calculation step. No expression is italicized because there has not been any calculation yet.
Press with left mouse button on the "Evaluate" button located on the dialog box to calculate the next part of the formula.
The image above shows the result of PI() italicized and ROW(A1) is underlined meaning it will be calculated in the next step.
Step 1 - Create a sequence
The ROW function allows you to create a sequence or series of numbers based on a relative cell reference, in this case, A1.
A relative cell reference changes when you copy the cell and paste it to another cell. This makes the formula return a new value in each cell.
The ROW function returns the row number from a cell reference. Cell A1 is on row 1.
ROW(A1)
returns 1.
Step 2 - Divide with 4
This step divides the row number with four.
ROW(A1)/4
becomes
1/4
and returns 0.25.
Step 3 - Multiply with pi
The PI function returns the PI number.
PI()*(ROW(A1)/4)
becomes
PI()*0.25
becomes
3.141592654*0.25
and returns 0.785398163 in cell B4.
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6. How to change sine wave amplitude
The general form of the Sin wave is y = A*Sin(B*(x-C))+D
Constant A in the formula above changes the amplitude or height of the sine wave. The image above shows two different sine waves, a blue one and an orange one.
The orange sine wave has an amplitude or height of 2 and the blue one has an amplitude of 1.
Formula in cell C3:
=SIN(B3)
Formula in cell D3:
=2*SIN(B3)
The sine wave is mirrored if you change constant A to -1.
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7. How to change the sine wave period
The general form of the Sin wave is y = A*Sin(B*(x-C))+D
Constant B changes the period, the chart above shows two sine waves. The blue sine wave completes a cycle in 2π or 360°, however, the orange sine wave completes two cycles in 2π or 360°.
Formula in cell C3:
=SIN(B3)
Formula in cell D3:
=SIN(2*B3)
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8. How to change the sine wave midline
The general form of the Sin wave is y = A*Sin(B*(x-C))+D
Constant D lets you change the midline which is the centerline in which the sine wave oscillates back and forth. The midline is horizontal and is right in between the minimum and maximum sine function values.
Formula in cell C3:
=SIN(B3)
The blue sine wave in column C has a maximum value of 1 and a minimum value of -1, the midline is 0 (zero).
Formula in cell D3:
=SIN(B3)+1
The orange sine wave in column D has a maximum value of 2 and a minimum value of 0, the midline is 1 (zero).
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9. How to use the SIN function with a right or right-angled triangle
A, B and C are angles, C is 90°, shown in the image above. A + B + C = 180°. One of the angles must be 90° (right angle triangle), in the example above C is 90°.
d, e, and f are lengths of the sides of the triangle. Side d and e are perpendicular to each other, meaning the angle between them are 90°.
SIN A = d/f
SIN A is equal to the ratio between sides d and f, this is only true if the triangle is a right-angled triangle.
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Functions in this article
Functions in 'Math and trigonometry' category
The SIN function function is one of many functions in the 'Math and trigonometry' category.
Converts negative numbers to positive numbers.
Calculates the arccosine, or inverse cosine, of a number.
Calculates the inverse hyperbolic cosine of a number.
Calculates the inverse cotangent of a number.
Calculates the inverse hyperbolic cotangent of a number.
Perform different specific functions to a list or database.
Calculates the arcsine of a number.
Calculates the inverse hyperbolic sine of a number.
Calculates the arctangent of a number.
Calculates the arctangent of an angle using specific x- and y-coordinates.
Calculates the inverse hyperbolic tangent of a number.
Converts a number into a text representation with a given radix (base).
Rounds a number up to its nearest multiple.
Returns the number of combinations for a specific number of elements out of a larger group.
Calculates the number of combinations for a given number of elements from a larger group of elements.
Calculates the cosine of an angle.
Calculates the hyperbolic cosine of a number.
Calculates the cotangent of an angle specified in radians.
Calculates the hyperbolic cotangent of a hyperbolic angle.
Calculates the cosecant of an angle (radians).
Converts a text representation of a number in a given base into a decimal number.
Calculates degrees from radians.
Rounds a number up to the nearest even whole number.
Returns e raised to the power of a number, e equals 2.71828182845904.
Returns the factorial of a number.
Returns the double factorial of a number.
Rounds a number to the specified number of decimals, formats the number in decimal format using a period and commas, and returns the result as text.
Rounds a number down to the nearest integer or to the nearest multiple of significance.
Rounds a number down to the nearest integer or nearest multiple of significance.
Calculates the greatest common divisor that divides all given arguments without a remainder.
Removes the decimal part from positive numbers and returns the whole number (integer) except negative values are rounded down to the nearest integer.
Calculates the least common multiple. The least common multiple is the smallest positive integer that is a multiple of all integer arguments. Use the LCM function to find fractions with different denominators.
Lets you name intermediate calculation results which can shorten formulas considerably and improve performance.
Calculates the natural logarithm of a number. Natural logarithms are based on the constant e.
Calculates the logarithm of a number to a specific base.
Calculates the logarithm of a number using the base 10.
Calculates the inverse matrix for a given array.
Calculates the matrix product of two arrays, an array as the same number of rows as array1 and columns as array2.
Returns the remainder after a number is divided by divisor.
Calculates a number rounded to a given multiple.
Calculates the ratio of the factorial of a sum of values to the product of factorials.
Calculates the identity matrix for a given dimension
Returns the number pi (¶).
Calculates a number raised to a power.
Returns the product of the numbers given in the argument.
Returns the integer portion of a division.
Converts degrees to radians.
Calculates a random real number greater than or equal to 0 and less than 1.
Creates an array of random numbers
Returns a random whole number between the numbers you specify.
Rounds a number based on the number of digits you specify.
Rounds a number down based on the number of digits to which you want to round the number.
Calculates a number rounded up based on the number of digits to which you want to round the number.
Calculates the secant of an angle.
Calculates the hyperbolic secant of an angle.
Creates a list of sequential numbers.
Calculates the sum of a power series based on a formula.
Returns the sign of a number. 1 for a positiv number, 0 (zero) for a 0 (zero) and -1 for a negative number.
Calculates the sine of an angle.
Calculates the hyperbolic sine of a number.
Calculates the positive square root.
Returns a subtotal from a list or database, you can choose from a variety of arguments that determine what you want the function to do.
Allows you to add numerical values, the function returns the sum in the cell it is entered in. The SUM function is cleverly designed to ignore text and boolean values, adding only numbers.
Sums numerical values based on a condition.
Adds numbers based on criteria.
Calculates the product of corresponding values and then returns the sum of each multiplication.
Calculates the sum of the squares of the arguments.
Calculates the sum of the difference of squares of corresponding values in two arrays.
Calculates the sum of the sum of squares of corresponding values in two arrays.
Calculates the sum of squares of differences of corresponding values in two arrays.
Calculates the tangent of an angle.
Calculates the hyperbolic tangent of a number.
Removes the fractional part of the number to an integer.
Excel function categories
Excel functions that let you resize, combine, and shape arrays.
Functions for backward compatibility with earlier Excel versions. Compatibility functions are replaced with newer functions with improved accuracy. Use the new functions if compatibility isn't required.
Perform basic operations to a database-like structure.
Functions that let you perform calculations to Excel date and time values.
Let's you manipulate binary numbers, convert values between different numeral systems, and calculate imaginary numbers.
Calculate present value, interest, accumulated interest, principal, accumulated principal, depreciation, payment, price, growth, yield for securities, and other financial calculations.
Functions that let you get information from a cell, formatting, formula, worksheet, workbook, filepath, and other entitites.
Functions that let you return and manipulate logical values, and also control formula calculations based on logical expressions.
These functions let you sort, lookup, get external data like stock quotes, filter values based a condition or criteria, and get the relative position of a given value in a specific cell range. They also let you calculate row, column, and other properties of cell references.
You will find functions in this category that calculates random values, round numerical values, create sequential numbers, trigonometry, and more.
Calculate distributions, binomial distributions, exponential distribution, probabilities, variance, covariance, confidence interval, frequency, geometric mean, standard deviation, average, median, and other statistical metrics.
Functions that let you manipulate text values, substitute strings, find string in value, extract a substring in a string, convert characters to ANSI code among other functions.
Get data from the internet, extract data from an XML string and more.
Excel categories
Latest updated articles.
More than 300 Excel functions with detailed information including syntax, arguments, return values, and examples for most of the functions used in Excel formulas.
More than 1300 formulas organized in subcategories.
Excel Tables simplifies your work with data, adding or removing data, filtering, totals, sorting, enhance readability using cell formatting, cell references, formulas, and more.
Allows you to filter data based on selected value , a given text, or other criteria. It also lets you filter existing data or move filtered values to a new location.
Lets you control what a user can type into a cell. It allows you to specifiy conditions and show a custom message if entered data is not valid.
Lets the user work more efficiently by showing a list that the user can select a value from. This lets you control what is shown in the list and is faster than typing into a cell.
Lets you name one or more cells, this makes it easier to find cells using the Name box, read and understand formulas containing names instead of cell references.
The Excel Solver is a free add-in that uses objective cells, constraints based on formulas on a worksheet to perform what-if analysis and other decision problems like permutations and combinations.
An Excel feature that lets you visualize data in a graph.
Format cells or cell values based a condition or criteria, there a multiple built-in Conditional Formatting tools you can use or use a custom-made conditional formatting formula.
Lets you quickly summarize vast amounts of data in a very user-friendly way. This powerful Excel feature lets you then analyze, organize and categorize important data efficiently.
VBA stands for Visual Basic for Applications and is a computer programming language developed by Microsoft, it allows you to automate time-consuming tasks and create custom functions.
A program or subroutine built in VBA that anyone can create. Use the macro-recorder to quickly create your own VBA macros.
UDF stands for User Defined Functions and is custom built functions anyone can create.
A list of all published articles.
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