ESSENTIAL TRIGONOMETRIC IDENTITIES FOR PHYSICS & CALCULUS

For each real x, , , and

α β that are elements of the domain of the specified functions, the following identities hold:

1. Definitions of derived trigonometric functions: 8. Complementary angle and 90° rotation formulas:
sin θ cos θ 1 1 1 cos ( π2 − θ ) ≡ sin θ cos (θ ± π2 ) ≡ ∓ sin θ
tan θ ≡ ; cot θ ≡ ≡ ; sec θ ≡ ; csc θ ≡
cos θ sin θ tan θ cos θ sin θ
sin ( π2 − θ ) ≡ cos θ sin (θ ± π2 ) ≡ ± cos θ

2. Even/odd properties of trigonometric functions: tan ( π2 − θ ) ≡ cot θ tan (θ ± π2 ) ≡ − cot θ

cos ( −θ ) ≡ cos (θ ) ; sin ( −θ ) ≡ − sin (θ ) ; tan ( −θ ) ≡ − tan (θ ) cot ( π2 − θ ) ≡ tan θ cot (θ ± π2 ) ≡ − tan θ
cot ( −θ ) ≡ − cot (θ ) ; sec ( −θ ) ≡ sec (θ ) ; csc ( −θ ) ≡ − csc (θ ) sec ( π2 − θ ) ≡ csc θ sec (θ ± π2 ) ≡ ∓ csc θ
csc ( π2 − θ ) ≡ sec θ csc (θ ± π2 ) ≡ ± sec θ
3. Identities obtained from sin2 + cos2 = 1:
θ θ

tan 2 θ + 1 ≡ sec 2 θ cot 2 θ + 1 ≡ csc2 θ 9. Supplementary angle and 180° rotation formulas:
cos (π − θ ) ≡ − cos θ cos (θ ± π ) ≡ − cos θ
4. Sums or differences of angles:
cos (α ± β ) ≡ cos α cos β ∓ sin α sin β sin (π − θ ) ≡ sin θ sin (θ ± π ) ≡ − sin θ

sin (α ± β ) ≡ sin α cos β ± sin β cos α tan (π − θ ) ≡ − tan θ tan (θ ± π ) ≡ tan θ

tan α ± tan β cot α cot β ∓ 1 cot ( π − θ ) ≡ − cot θ cot (θ ± π ) ≡ cot θ

tan (α ± β ) ≡ cot (α ± β ) ≡
1 ∓ tan α tan β cot β ± cot α sec ( π − θ ) ≡ − sec θ sec (θ ± π ) ≡ − sec θ
sec α sec β csc α csc β csc (π − θ ) ≡ csc θ csc (θ ± π ) ≡ − csc θ
sec (α ± β ) ≡ csc (α ± β ) ≡
1 ∓ tan α tan β cot β ± cot α
10. Squares of trigonometric functions:
5. Double angle formulas:
cos 2 θ ≡ 12 + 12 cos 2θ sin 2 θ ≡ 12 − 12 cos 2θ
cos ( 2θ ) ≡ cos 2 θ − sin 2 θ ≡ 2 cos 2 θ − 1 ≡ 1 − 2sin 2 θ
1 − cos 2θ 1 + cos 2θ
sin ( 2θ ) ≡ 2sin θ cos θ tan 2 θ ≡ cot 2 θ ≡
1 + cos 2θ 1 − cos 2θ
2 tan θ cot 2 θ − 1 2 2
tan ( 2θ ) ≡ cot ( 2θ ) ≡ sec 2 θ ≡ csc 2 θ ≡
1 − tan 2 θ 2 cot θ 1 + cos 2θ 1 − cos 2θ
sec 2 θ csc2 θ
sec ( 2θ ) ≡ csc ( 2θ ) ≡ 11. Half angle formulas:
1 − tan 2 θ 2 cot θ
θ θ
6. Sum-to-product/difference-to-product formulas:
cos ≡± 1
2 (1 + cos θ ) sin ≡± 1
2 (1 − cos θ )
2 2
cos α + cos β ≡ 2 cos  12 (α + β )  cos  12 (α − β )  θ sin θ 1 − cos θ 1 − cos θ
tan ≡ ≡ ≡±
2 1 + cos θ sin θ 1 + cos θ
cos α − cos β ≡ 2 sin  12 ( β − α )  sin  12 ( β + α ) 

sin α ± sin β ≡ 2 sin  12 (α ± β )  cos  12 (α ∓ β )  12. Compositions of trigonometric and inverse θ

trigonometric functions (for −1 ≤ x ≤ 1 and 0 ≤ ≤ /2):

π

tan α ± tan β ≡ tan (α ± β )(1 ∓ tan α tan β )

1
cos ( sin −1 x ) ≡ 1 − x 2 cos ( tan −1 x ) ≡
1 + x2
7. Product-to-sum formulas:
π
cos α cos β = 12 cos (α − β ) + cos (α + β )  cos −1 ( sin θ ) ≡ −θ sin ( cos −1 x ) ≡ 1 − x 2
2
sin α cos β = 12 sin (α + β ) + sin (α − β )  x π
sin ( tan −1 x ) ≡ sin −1 ( cos θ ) ≡ −θ
1+ x 2 2
sin α sin β = cos (α − β ) − cos (α + β ) 
1
2

1 − x2 x
tan ( cos −1 x ) ≡ tan ( sin −1 x ) ≡
x 1 − x2

VC DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS REVISED SUMMER 2007