Final answer:
To find the phase shift of a sinusoidal function, determine the value of the phase angle in the function equation. The phase shift is the value that determines the horizontal shift of the graph.
Step-by-step explanation:
A phase shift is a horizontal shift of a sinusoidal function, which can be represented by a cosine or sine function. To find the phase shift, you need to determine the value of the phase angle, represented by the Greek letter phi (ϕ), in the equation of the function. The phase shift is the value of ϕ that shifts the function to the right or left.
For example, in the equation y(t) = A sin(wt + ϕ), the value of ϕ determines the phase shift. If ϕ = 0, there is no phase shift and the graph is centered on the y-axis. If ϕ > 0, the graph is shifted to the left. If ϕ < 0, the graph is shifted to the right.
It is important to note that both cosine and sine functions can be used to represent a phase shift, but the choice depends on the context of the problem or the given function.