Lecture Notes The Half-Angle Formulas page 1

Theorem: For all angles ,

r r
1 + cos 1 cos
cos = and sin =
2 2 2 2

Proof. Let us start with the double-angle formula for cosine. We will use the form that only involves cosine and
solve for cos x.

cos 2x = 2 cos2 x 1 add 1

2
cos 2x + 1 = 2 cos x divide by 2
cos 2x + 1
= cos2 x
r 2
cos 2x + 1
= cos x
2

Now we will subsititute 2x = and divide both sides by 2, we get x = .

2
r r
cos 2x + 1 cos +1
cos x = becomes cos =
2 2 2
We prove the half-angle formula for sine similary. We start with the double-angle formula for cosine. We will
use the form that only involves sine and solve for sin x.

cos 2x = 1 2 sin2 x add 2 sin2 x

cos 2x + 2 sin2 x = 1 subtract 2 cos x
2
2 sin x = 1 cos 2x divide by 2
1 cos 2x
sin2 x =
r2
1 cos 2x
sin x =
2

Now we subsititute 2x = and divide both sides by 2, we get x = .

2
r r
1 cos 2x 1 cos
sin x = becomes sin =
2 2 2
What about the ? Are both solutions correct? The answer is yes, they might both be correct and we need to
know the half angle’s location to sort out which one is the correct value for the half-angle.

Consider that we do not know what the angle is, only its sine and cosine. If we know the sine and cosine of an
angle, we still do not know its value, only up to co-terminal angles, that is, any multiple of 360 added. And if
two angles di¤er by 360 , their halves will di¤er by 180 . If those half angles di¤er by 180 , then their sines and
cosines will be opposites.

Consider for example 120 and 480 . Since these angles are co-terminal, they have the same sine and cosine.
p
3 1
sin 120 = and cos 120 =
p2 2
3 1
sin 480 = and cos 480 =
2 2

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Lecture Notes The Half-Angle Formulas page 2

Let us apply the half-angle formula for both angles

v v
u u 3
r u 1 u r
u1 t
p
120 cos 120 1 t 2 2 = 3 3
sin 60 = sin = = = =
2 2 2 2 4 2
p
3
Since 60 is in the …rst quadrant, the answer is .
2
v v
u u 3
r u 1 u r
u1 t
p
480 cos 4801 t 2 2 = 3 3
sin 240 = sin = = = =
2 2 2 2 4 2
p
3
Since 240 is in the third quadrant, the answer is .
2
When using the half-angle formulas for sine and cosine, we must be aware that the formula does not give us the
sign of the half-angle. For the sign, we must …gure out in which quadrant the half-angle lies.

Now for the half-angle formula for tangent:

Theorem: For all angles 6= k where k 2 Z,

sin 1 cos
tan = =
2 1 + cos sin

r v
1 cos u 1 cos
sin u r r
2 u 1 cos 2 1 cos 1 cos
tan = 2 = r = tu 2 = =
2 cos 1 + cos 1 + cos 2 1 + cos 1 + cos 1 cos
2 2 2
s s s
2 2
(1 cos ) (1 cos ) (1 cos )2 1 cos
= = = =
(1 + cos ) (1 cos ) (1 cos2 ) sin2 sin

For the other form of the formula

1 cos 1 cos 1 + cos cos2
1 sin2 sin
= = = =
sin sin 1 + cos sin (1 + cos ) sin (1 + cos ) 1 + cos

And so we have that

sin 1 cos
= tan =
2 1 + cos sin
Where did the go? We only proved the results up to a minus sign. The following alternative proof shows us
that there is no ambiguity here.

sin sin sin 2 cos 2 sin cos

tan = 2 = 2 1= 2 2 = 2 2 = sin
2 cos cos cos 2 cos 2 cos 2 1 + cos
2 2 2 2 2

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Lecture Notes The Half-Angle Formulas page 3

The numerator is sin by the double-angle formula for sine. The denominator is 1 + cos because of the
double-angle formula:

cos 2x = 2 cos2 x 1 Let 2x = then x =

2
2
cos = 2 cos 1 add 1
2
cos + 1 = 2 cos2
2
And so the half-angle formula for tangent has no ambiguity about the sign like the half-angle formulas for since
and cosine.

Sample Problems

1. Compute the exact value of each of the following.

a) sin 22:5 b) cos 22:5 c) tan 22:5
1
2. Compute the exact value of cos x if we know that cos 2x = .
3

3. Compute the exact value of sin if we know that tan = 2.

2

Practice Problems

1. Compute the exact value of sin 105 using a half-angle formula.

2. Compute the exact value of each of the following.

a) sin 15 c) sin 7:5 e) tan 7:5

b) cos 15 d) cos 7:5

7
3. Compute the exact value of sin x and cos x if x is in the second quadrant and cos 2x = .
25
x x 2
4. Compute the exact value of cos and tan if we know that cos x = .
2 2 3
4
5. Compute the exact value of sin if sin 2 = .
5

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Lecture Notes The Half-Angle Formulas page 4

Sample Problems - Answers

p p p p p r p
2 2 2+ 2 p 3 5 5
1.) a) b) c) 2 1 2.) 3.)
2 2 3 10

Practice Problems - Answers

p p
2+ 3
1.
2
p p p p r p p r p p
6 2 6+ 2 1 4 6 2 1 4+ 6+ 2
2. a) b) c) d)
4 4 2 2 2 2
p p
6 2 p p p
e) p p = 2+ 6+ 2 3
4+ 6+ 2
3 4
3. sin x = cos x =
5 5
p p
x 30 x 5
4. cos = and tan =
2 6 2 5
p p
2 5 1 5
5. ;
5 5

Sample Problems - Solutions

1. Compute the exact value of each of the following.

a) sin 22:5
Solution: 22:5 is half of 45 . So we will apply the appropriate half-angle formula.
r
1 cos
sin =
2 2
Let = 45 . Then the formula becomes
v p v p
u u v s
r u
t1
2 u2
t
2 u p ! p
1 cos 45 u1 2 2 2 2
sin 22:5 = = 2 = 2 2 = t =
2 2 2 2 2 2 4
p p p p
2 2 2 2
= p =
4 2

Since 22:5 is an ange in the …rst quadrant, we know that its sine is positive. So the correct
p p
2 2
answer is sin 22:5 =
2

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Lecture Notes The Half-Angle Formulas page 5

b) cos 22:5

Solution: 22:5 is half of 45 . So we will apply the appropriate half-angle formula.

r
1 + cos
cos =
2 2
Let = 45 . Then the formula becomes
v p v p
u u v s
r u
t1 +
2 u2
t +
2 u p ! p
1 + cos 45 u1 2 2 2+ 2
cos 22:5 = = 2 = 2 2 = t + =
2 2 2 2 2 2 4
p p p p
2+ 2 2+ 2
= p =
4 2
Since 22:5 is an ange in the …rst quadrant, we know that its cosine is positive. So the correct
p p
2+ 2
answer is cos 22:5 =
2

c) tan 22:5

Solution: 22:5 is half of 45 . So we will apply the appropriate half-angle formula.

sin
tan =
2 1 + cos
Let = 45 . Then the formula becomes
p p p
2 2 2 p p p
sin 45 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
tan 22:5 = = p = p = p = p = p p
1 + cos 45 2 2 2 2+ 2 2 2+ 2 2+ 2 2 2
1+ +
p p p2 2 2p 2
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 p
= = = = 2 1
4 2 2 2
p
So the answer is tan 22:5 = 2 1

1
2. Compute the exact value of cos x if we know that cos 2x = .
3
Solution: We will apply the appropriate half-angle formula.
r
1 + cos
cos =
2 2
Let = 2x. Then the formula becomes
v v
u u2
r u 1 u r
u1 + t
p
1 + cos 2x t 3 3 = 1 3
cos x = = = =
2 2 2 3 3
Since we don’t know which quadrant this angle lies, the answer could be positive or negative. So the correct
p
3
answer is cos x =
3

c copyright Hidegkuti, 2014 Last revised: April 12, 2014

Lecture Notes The Half-Angle Formulas page 6

3. Compute the exact value of sin if we know that tan = 2.

2
Solution: We …rst compute cos . To …nd the numerical value, we draw a right triangle in which tan = 2.

We compute the hypotenuse

p using the Pythagorean theorem and then we have cos up to its sign:
1 5
cos = p = . Since we have no additional information on , both answers could be correct.
5 5
Because of this, we will have four possible values for sin :
2
v p v p
u u s
r u 5 u5 5 p
1 cos t1 t 5 5
sin = = 5 = 5 = or
2 2 2 2 10
v
u
u p ! v
5 u p
r u1 u5+ 5 s
u 5 t p
1 cos t 5 5+ 5
sin = = = =
2 2 2 2 10
r p
5 5
so the correct answer is sin = .
2 10

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c copyright Hidegkuti, 2014 Last revised: April 12, 2014