The coordinate plane is divided into four quadrants. Each quadrant affects the sign of trigonometric functions:
- First Quadrant: All trigonometric functions are positive.
- Second Quadrant: Sine is positive; cosine and tangent are negative.
- Third Quadrant: Tangent is positive; sine and cosine are negative.
- Fourth Quadrant: Cosine is positive; sine and tangent are negative.
Since -135° is in the third quadrant, we know sin(-135°) is negative. Thus, it produces -√2/2 for the sine function based on its reference angle.