List of trigonometric identities

The following table shows the conversions for some common angles:
Unless otherwise specied, all angles in this article are
assumed to be in radians, but angles ending in a degree
symbol () are in degrees. Per Nivens theorem multiples
of 30 are the only angles that are a rational multiple of
one degree and also have a rational sin/cos, which may
account for their popularity in examples.[1]

1.2 Trigonometric functions

The primary trigonometric functions are the sine and
cosine of an angle. These are sometimes abbreviated
sin() and cos(), respectively, where is the angle, but
the parentheses around the angle are often omitted, e.g.,
sin and cos .
The sine of an angle is dened in the context of a right
triangle, as the ratio of the length of the side that is opposite to the angle divided by the length of the longest side
In mathematics, trigonometric identities are equalities of the triangle (the hypotenuse ).
that involve trigonometric functions and are true for every The cosine of an angle is also dened in the context of
single value of the occurring variables. Geometrically, a right triangle, as the ratio of the length of the side the
these are identities involving certain functions of one or angle is in divided by the length of the longest side of the
more angles. They are distinct from triangle identities, triangle (the hypotenuse ).
which are identities involving both angles and side lengths
of a triangle. Only the former are covered in this article. The tangent (tan) of an angle is the ratio of the sine to the
cosine:
These identities are useful whenever expressions involving trigonometric functions need to be simplied.
sin
An important application is the integration of nontan =
.
trigonometric functions: a common technique involves
cos
rst using the substitution rule with a trigonometric func- Finally, the reciprocal functions secant (sec), cosecant
tion, and then simplifying the resulting integral with a (csc), and cotangent (cot) are the reciprocals of the cotrigonometric identity.
sine, sine, and tangent:
Cosines and sines around the unit circle

1
1.1

sec =

Notation

1
,
cos

csc =

1
,
sin

cot =

1
cos
=
.
tan
sin

These denitions are sometimes referred to as ratio identities.

Angles

This article uses Greek letters such as alpha (), beta (),
gamma (), and theta () to represent angles. Several dif- 2 Inverse functions
ferent units of angle measure are widely used, including
degrees, radians, and grads:
Main article: Inverse trigonometric functions
1 full circle = 360 degrees = 2 radians = 400
grads.

The inverse trigonometric functions are partial inverse

functions for the trigonometric functions. For example,
1

6 ANGLE SUM AND DIFFERENCE IDENTITIES

the inverse function for the sine, known as the inverse

sine (sin1 ) or arcsine (arcsin or asin), satises
sin(arcsin x) = x for |x| 1

F co
t

excsc
cvs
csc

sin

sin

and

tan
chord

O cos versin D

arcsin(sin x) = x for |x| /2.

Pythagorean identity

exsec

sec

This article uses the notation below for inverse trigonometric functions:

B
All of the trigonometric functions of an angle can be constructed geometrically in terms of a unit circle centered at O.
Many of these terms are no longer in common use.

Main article: Pythagorean trigonometric identity

5 Symmetry, shifts, and periodicity

In trigonometry, the basic relationship between the sine
and the cosine is known as the Pythagorean identity:
By examining the unit circle, the following properties of
the trigonometric functions can be established.
cos2 + sin2 = 1
where cos2 means (cos())2 and sin2 means (sin())2 .
This can be viewed as a version of the Pythagorean theorem, and follows from the equation x2 + y2 = 1 for the
unit circle. This equation can be solved for either the sine
or the cosine:

sin = 1 cos2 ,

cos = 1 sin2 .
where the sign depends on the quadrant of .

3.1

Related identities

Dividing the Pythagorean identity by either cos2 or sin2

yields two other identities:
1 + tan2 = sec2

and 1 + cot2 = csc2 .

Using these identities together with the ratio identities, it

is possible to express any trigonometric function in terms
of any other (up to a plus or minus sign):

5.1 Symmetry
When the trigonometric functions are reected from certain angles, the result is often one of the other trigonometric functions. This leads to the following identities:
Note that the sign in front of the trig function does not
necessarily indicate the sign of the value. For example,
+ cos does not always mean that cos is positive. In
particular, if = , then + cos = 1 .

5.2 Shifts and periodicity

By shifting the function round by certain angles, it is often
possible to nd dierent trigonometric functions that express particular results more simply. Some examples of
this are shown by shifting functions round by /2, and
2 radians. Because the periods of these functions are
either or 2, there are cases where the new function is
exactly the same as the old function without the shift.

6 Angle sum and dierence identities

See also: Product-to-sum and sum-to-product identities

Historical shorthands

These are also known as the addition and subtraction theorems or formulae. They were originally established by
The versine, coversine, haversine, and exsecant were used the 10th century Persian mathematician Ab al-Waf'
in navigation. For example the haversine formula was Bzjn. One method of proving these identities is to apused to calculate the distance between two points on a ply Eulers formula. The use of the symbols and is
described in the article plus-minus sign.
sphere. They are rarely used today.

6.1

Matrix form

cos( + )

sin

cos sin

sin( + )

the sin(+) line up from the origin and the adjacent side
is the cos(+) segment going horizontally from the top
left.

sin sin

Overall the diagram can be used to show the sine and cosine of sum identities

sin( + ) = sin cos + cos sin

cos( + ) = cos cos sin sin
because the opposite sides of the rectangle are equal.

sin cos

co

cos cos

6.1 Matrix form

See also: matrix multiplication
The sum and dierence formulae for sine and cosine can
be written in matrix form as:
(

cos
sin

Illustration of angle addition formulae for the sine and cosine.

Emphasized segment is of unit length.

1 - tan tan

tan tan

tan

tan

co

tan + tan

tan

os
1/c

Illustration of the angle addition formula for the tangent. Emphasized segments are of unit length.

For the angle addition diagram for the sine and cosine,
the line in bold with the 1 on it is of length 1. It is the
hypotenuse of a right angle triangle with angle which
gives the sin and cos . The cos line is the hypotenuse
of a right angle triangle with angle so it has sides sin
and cos both multiplied by cos . This is the same for
the sin line. The original line is also the hypotenuse of
a right angle triangle with angle +, the opposite side is

sin
cos

)(

cos cos sin sin

sin cos + cos sin
cos( + )
sin( + )

sin
cos

cos
sin

cos sin sin cos

sin sin + cos cos

sin( + )
cos( + )

)
.

This shows that these matrices form a representation of

the rotation group in the plane (technically, the special orthogonal group SO(2)), since the composition law is fullled: subsequent multiplications of a vector with these
two matrices yields the same result as the rotation by the
sum of the angles.

6.2 Sines and cosines of sums of innitely

many terms
( )

sin
i =
(1)(k1)/2
(
cos

i=1

)
i

even k0

A{ 1,2,3,... }
|A|=k

odd k1

i=1

(1)k/2

A{ 1,2,3,... }
|A|=k

sin i

iA

sin i

iA

In these two identities an asymmetry appears that is not

seen in the case of sums of nitely many terms: in each
product, there are only nitely many sine factors and
conitely many cosine factors.
If only nitely many of the terms i are nonzero, then only
nitely many of the terms on the right side will be nonzero
because sine factors will vanish, and in each term, all but
nitely many of the cosine factors will be unity.

cos i

iA

iA

cos i

6.3

MULTIPLE-ANGLE FORMULAE

Tangents of sums

where ek is the kth-degree elementary symmetric polynomial in the n variables xi = tan i, i = 1, ..., n, and
Let ek (for k = 0, 1, 2, 3, ...) be the kth-degree elementary the number of terms in the denominator and the number
symmetric polynomial in the variables
of factors in the product in the numerator depend on the
number of terms in the sum on the left. The case of only
nitely many terms can be proved by mathematical induction on the number of such terms. The convergence
xi = tan i
of the series in the denominators can be shown by writing
the secant identity in the form
for i = 0, 1, 2, 3, ..., i.e.,

e0 = 1

e1 =
xi
e2 =

xi xj

i<j

e3 =

e0 e2 + e4 =
tan i
tan i tan j

xi xj xk

and then observing that the left side converges if the right
side converges, and similarly for the cosecant identity.
For example,

i<j

tan i tan j tan k

i<j<k

i<j<k

sec i
i
sec ( i i )

sec( + + ) =

sec sec sec

1 tan tan tan tan tan tan

Then

csc( + + ) =

sec sec sec

.
tan + tan + tan tan tan tan

(
)

e1 e3 + e5
i =
tan
.
e0 e2 + e4
i

7 Multiple-angle formulae

..
.

..
.

The number of terms on the right side depends on the

7.1
number of terms on the left side.
For example:

tan(1 + 2 ) =
tan(1 + 2 + 3 ) =
tan(1 + 2 + 3 + 4 ) =
=

Double-angle, triple-angle, and halfangle formulae

See also: Tangent half-angle formula

e1
x1 + x2
tan 1 + tan 2
=
=
,
e0 e2
1 x1 x2
1 These
tan 1can
tan be2 shown by using either the sum and dierence identities or the multiple-angle formulae.
e1 e3
(x1 + x2 + x3 ) (x1 x2 x3 )
=
, the triple-angle formula for sine and cosine
fact that
e0 e2
1 (x1 x2 + x1 xThe
3 + x2 x3 )
only involves powers of a single function allows one to ree1 e3
late the geometric problem of a compass and straightedge
construction of angle trisection to the algebraic problem
e0 e2 + e4
of solving a cubic equation, which allows one to prove
(x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 ) (x1 x
+ xis1 x
x4 + x1impossible
x3 x4 + x2using
x3 x4 )the given tools, by
2 x3this
that
in2 general
,
1 (x1 x2 + x1 x3 + x1 x4 +eld
x2 x3theory.
+ x2 x4 + x3 x4 ) + (x1 x2 x3 x4 )

and so on. The case of only nitely many terms can be A formula for computing the trigonometric identities for
the third-angle exists, but it requires nding the zeroes of
proved by mathematical induction.[15]
the cubic equation x3 3x+d
= 0 , where x is the value
4
of the sine function at some angle and d is the known
value of the sine function at the triple angle. However,
6.4 Secants and cosecants of sums
the discriminant of this equation is negative, so this equa(
)

tion has three real roots (of which only one is the solution

i sec i
sec
i =
within the correct third-circle) but none of these solue0 e2 + e4
i
tions is reducible to a real algebraic expression, as they
(
)
use intermediate complex numbers under the cube roots,

(which may be expressed in terms of real-only functions

i sec i
csc
i =
e

e
+
e

only if using hyperbolic functions).

1
3
5
i

7.4

7.2

Tangent of an average

Sine, cosine, and tangent of multiple 7.4 Tangent of an average

angles
(
)
+
2

tan

sin + sin
cos cos
=
cos + cos
sin sin

For specic multiples, these follow from the angle addition formulas, while the general formula was given by Setting either or to 0 gives the usual tangent half-angle
16th century French mathematician Vieta.
formul.

sin n =

n ( )

n
k=0

cos n =

(
cosk sinnk sin

n ( )

n
k=0

1
(n k)
2

(
cosk sinnk cos

1
(n k)
2

7.5 Vites innite product

cos

( )
( )
( )
( )

sin
= sinc .
cos
cos
=
cos
=
n
2
4
8
2

n=1

(Refer to sinc function.)

In each of these two equations, the rst parenthesized

term is a binomial coecient, and the nal trigonometric
8 Power-reduction formula
function equals one or minus one or zero so that half the
entries in each of the sums are removed. tan n can be
Obtained by solving the second and third versions of the
written in terms of tan using the recurrence relation:
cosine double-angle formula.
tan n + tan
tan (n+1) =
.
1 tan n tan
cot n can be written in terms of cot using the recurrence relation:

cot (n+1) =

cot n cot 1
.
cot n + cot

and in general terms of powers of sin or cos the following is true, and can be deduced using De Moivres formula, Eulers formula and binomial theorem.

9 Product-to-sum and
product identities

sum-to-

The product-to-sum identities or prosthaphaeresis formulas can be proven by expanding their right-hand sides using the angle addition theorems. See amplitude modu7.3 Chebyshev method
lation for an application of the product-to-sum formul,
and beat (acoustics) and phase detector for applications
The Chebyshev method is a recursive algorithm for nd- of the sum-to-product formul.
ing the nth multiple angle formula knowing the (n 1)th
and (n 2)th formulae.[23]
The cosine for nx can be computed from the cosine of (n
1)x and (n 2)x as follows:

9.1 Other related identities

Ifx + y + z = = circle, half

cos nx = 2 cos x cos((n 1)x) cos((n 2)x)

Similarly sin(nx) can be computed from the sines of (n
1)x and (n 2)x

then sin(2x)+sin(2y)+sin(2z) = 4 sin(x) sin(y) sin(z).

(Triple tangent identity) Ifx + y + z =
= circle, half

sin nx = 2 cos x sin((n 1)x) sin((n 2)x)

For the tangent, we have:

tan nx =

H + K tan x
K H tan x

where H/K = tan(n 1)x.

then tan(x)+tan(y)+tan(z) = tan(x) tan(y) tan(z).

In particular, the formula
holds when x, y, and z are
the three angles of any triangle.

10
(If any of x, y, z is a
right angle, one should
take both sides to be .
This is neither + nor
; for present purposes
it makes sense to add
just one point at innity to the real line, that
is approached by tan()
as tan() either increases
through positive values or
decreases through negative values. This is a onepoint compactication of
the real line.)
(Triple cotangent identity) Ifx + y +
z = 2 = circle, quarter

then cot(x)+cot(y)+cot(z) = cot(x) cot(y) cot(z).

LINEAR COMBINATIONS

(The rst three equalities are trivial; the fourth is the substance of this identity.) Essentially this is Ptolemys theorem adapted to the language of modern trigonometry.

10 Linear combinations
For some purposes it is important to know that any linear combination of sine waves of the same period or frequency but dierent phase shifts is also a sine wave with
the same period or frequency, but a dierent phase shift.
This is useful in sinusoid data tting, because the measured or observed data are linearly related to the a and
b unknowns of the in-phase and quadrature components
basis below, resulting in a simpler Jacobian, compared to
that of c and . In the case of a non-zero linear combination of a sine and cosine wave[27] (which is just a sine
wave with a phase shift of /2), we have

a sin x + b cos x = c sin(x + )

where

9.2

Hermites cotangent identity

Main article: Hermites cotangent identity

c=

a2 + b2 ,

and (using the atan2 function)

Charles Hermite demonstrated the following identity.[26]
Suppose a1 , ..., an are complex numbers, no two of which
dier by an integer multiple of . Let
= atan2 (b, a) .

An,k =

More generally, for an arbitrary phase shift, we have

cot(ak aj )

1jn
j=k

a sin x + b sin(x + ) = c sin(x + )

(in particular, A,, being an empty product, is 1). Then

where

n
+
An,k cot(zak ).c = a2 + b2 + 2ab cos ,
2
n

cot(za1 ) cot(zan ) = cos

k=1

The simplest non-trivial example is the case n = 2:

and

) {
(
0
b sin
+
=
arctan
cot(za1 ) cot(za2 ) = 1+cot(a1 a2 ) cot(za1 )+cot(a
2 a
1 ) cot(za2 ).
a + b cos

9.3

Ptolemys theorem

Ifw + x + y + z = = circle, half

The general case reads

ai sin(x + i ) = a sin(x + ),

then sin(w + x) sin(x + y)

where

= sin(x + y) sin(y + z)

= sin(y + z) sin(z + w)
a2 =
ai aj cos(i j )
= sin(z + w) sin(w + x) = sin(w) sin(y) + sin(x) sin(z). i,j

ifa + b cos 0,
ifa + b cos < 0.

7
and
tan(x) + sec(x) = tan

ai sin i
tan = i
.
a
i i cos i

(x
2

)
.
4

See also Phasor addition.

The above identity is sometimes convenient to know

when thinking about the Gudermannian function, which
relates the circular and hyperbolic trigonometric functions without resorting to complex numbers.

11

If x, y, and z are the three angles of any triangle, i.e. if x

+ y + z = , then

Lagranges trigonometric identities

These identities, named after Joseph Louis Lagrange, cot(x) cot(y) + cot(y) cot(z) + cot(z) cot(x) = 1.
are:[28][29]

13 Certain linear fractional transformations

cos(N + 12 )
1
sin n = cot
2
2
2 sin 21
n=1
N

1 sin(N + 12 )
cos n = +
2
2 sin 12
n=1

If (x) is given by the linear fractional transformation

A related function is the following function of x, called

(cos )x sin
f (x) =
,
the Dirichlet kernel.
(sin )x + cos

1+2 cos(x)+2 cos(2x)+2 cos(3x)+ +2 cos(nx) =

12

sin

Other sums of trigonometric

functions

and similarly
((
) )
n + 12 x
.
sin(x/2)
(cos )x sin
g(x) =
,
(sin )x + cos
then

Sum of sines and cosines with arguments in arithmetic

(cos( + ))x sin( + )
.
f (g(x)) = g(f (x)) =
progression:[30] if = 0 , then
(sin( + ))x + cos( + )
More tersely stated, if for all we let be what we called
above, then

sin + sin ( + ) + sin ( + 2) +

+ sin ( + n) =

sin

(n+1)
2

sin ( +

sin 2

+ cos ( + n) =

(n+1)
2

f fand
= f+ .
If x is the slope of a line, then (x) is the slope of its
rotation through an angle of .

cos + cos ( + ) + cos ( + 2) +

sin

n
2 )

cos ( +

sin 2

n
2 )

14 Inverse trigonometric functions

For any a and b:

arcsin(x) + arccos(x) = /2
a cos(x) + b sin(x) =

a2 + b2 cos(x atan2 (b, a))

arctan(x) + arccot(x) = /2.

where atan2(y, x) is the generalization of arctan(y/x) that

arctan(x) + arctan(1/x) =
covers the entire circular range.

/2, if x > 0
/2, if x < 0

17 IDENTITIES WITHOUT VARIABLES

14.1

15

Compositions of trig and inverse trig

functions

Relation to the complex exponential function

eix = cos(x) + i sin(x)

[31]

(Eulers formula),

eix = cos(x) + i sin(x) = cos(x) i sin(x)

ei = 1 (Eulers identity),

cos

2
4
1
cos
cos
= ,
9
9
9
8

Similarly:

tan 50 tan 60 tan 70 = tan 80 .

tan 40 tan 30 tan 20 = tan 10 .
The following is perhaps not as readily generalized to an
identity containing variables (but see explanation below):

e2i = 1
ix

+e
2

ix

cos 24 + cos 48 + cos 96 + cos 168 =

[32]

cos(x) =

sin(x) =

eix eix [33]

2i

Degree measure ceases to be more felicitous than radian

measure when we consider this identity with 21 in the
denominators:

and hence the corollary:

(
cos

tan(x) =

1
.
2

sin(x)
eix eix
=
cos(x)
i(eix + eix )

2
21

(
)
(
)
2
2
+ cos 2
+ cos 4
21
21
(

2
+ cos 5
21

where i2 = 1 .

2
+ cos 8
21

2
+ cos 10
21

The factors 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10 may start to make the pattern clear: they are those integers less than 21/2 that are
16 Innite product formulae
relatively prime to (or have no prime factors in common
with) 21. The last several examples are corollaries of a
For applications to special functions, the following basic fact about the irreducible cyclotomic polynomials:
innite product formulae for trigonometric functions are the cosines are the real parts of the zeroes of those polynomials; the sum of the zeroes is the Mbius function
useful:[34][35]
evaluated at (in the very last case above) 21; only half of
the zeroes are present above. The two identities preceding this last one arise in the same fashion with 21 replaced
17 Identities without variables
by 10 and 15, respectively.
Many of those curious identities stem from more general
facts like the following:[36]

The curious identity

cos 20 cos 40 cos 80 =

1
8

is a special case of an identity that contains one variable:

n1

(
sin

k=1

k
n

)
=

n
2n1

and
k1

cos(2j x) =

j=0

sin(2k x)
.
2k sin(x)

Similarly:

n1

(
cos

k=1

k
n

)
=

sin(n/2)
2n1

Combining these gives us

sin 20 sin 40 sin 80 =

.
8
The same cosine identity in radians is

n1

k=1

(
tan

k
n

)
=

n
sin(n/2)

1
.
2

17.4

An identity of Euclid

If n is an odd number (n = 2m + 1) we can make use of 17.4 An identity of Euclid

the symmetries to get
Euclid showed in Book XIII, Proposition 10 of his
Elements that the area of the square on the side of a regu(
)
m

k
lar pentagon inscribed in a circle is equal to the sum of the
tan
= 2m + 1
2m + 1
areas of the squares on the sides of the regular hexagon
k=1
and the regular decagon inscribed in the same circle. In
The transfer function of the Butterworth low pass lter the language of modern trigonometry, this says:
can be expressed in terms of polynomial and poles. By
setting the frequency as the cuto frequency, the following identity can be proved:
sin2 (18 ) + sin2 (30 ) = sin2 (36 ).
n

(
sin

k=1

17.1

(2k 1)
4n

)
=

(
cos

k=1

(2k 1)
4n

2 Ptolemy used this proposition to compute some angles in

= n his table of chords.
2

Computing

An ecient way to compute is based on the following

identity without variables, due to Machin:
1
1

= 4 arctan arctan
4
5
239
or, alternatively, by using an identity of Leonhard Euler:

18 Composition of trigonometric
functions
This identity involves a trigonometric function of a
trigonometric function:[37]

cos(t sin(x)) = J0 (t) + 2

J2k (t) cos(2kx)

k=1

1
3
= 5 arctan + 2 arctan .
4
7
79

17.2

where J 0 and Jk are Bessel functions.

A useful mnemonic for certain values

19
of sines and cosines

Calculus

For certain simple angles, the sines and cosines take the In calculus the relations stated below require angles to be

form n/2 for 0 n 4, which makes them easy to re- measured in radians; the relations would become more
complicated if angles were measured in another unit such
member.
as degrees. If the trigonometric functions are dened in
terms

( ) of geometry, along with the denitions of arc length

sin 0
= sin 0 =
0/2 = cos 90 = cosand2 area, their derivatives can be found by verifying two
limits.

( )
( ) The rst is:
sin 6
= sin 30 =
1/2 = cos 60 = cos 3
sin

()

sin

()

sin

()

17.3

= sin 45

2/2

cos 45

= sin 60

3/2

cos 30

= sin 90

4/2

cos 0

Miscellany

( )
= cos 4 sin x
= 1,
lim
x0 x
()
= cos 6
veried using the unit circle and squeeze theorem. The
second limit is:
=
cos 0

lim

x0

With the golden ratio :

()

cos
= cos 36 = 14 ( 5 + 1) = 21
5
()

= sin 18 = 14 ( 5 1) = 12 1
sin
10
Also see exact trigonometric constants.

1 cos x
= 0,
x

veried using the identity tan(x/2) = (1 cos x)/sin x.

Having established these two limits, one can use the limit
denition of the derivative and the addition theorems to
show that (sin x) = cos x and (cos x) = sin x. If the sine
and cosine functions are dened by their Taylor series,
then the derivatives can be found by dierentiating the
power series term-by-term.

10

22

SEE ALSO

) (
)
(
n ( )(

n
d
d
d
sin x
sin x + i
sin x + (k 1)i
k
dx
dx
dx

d
sin x = cos x
dx

k=0

The rest of the trigonometric functions can be dif- (When k = 0, then the number of dierential operators
ferentiated using the above identities and the rules of being composed is 0, so the corresponding term in the
dierentiation:[38][39][40]
sum above is just (sin x)n .) This identity was discovered
as a by-product of research in medical imaging.[41]
d
sin x = cos x,
dx

d
1
arcsin x =
dx
1 x2

d
cos x = sin x,
dx

d
1
arccos x =
dx
1 x2

d
tan x = sec2 x,
dx

d
1
arctan x =
dx
1 + x2

d
cot x = csc2 x,
dx

d
1
arccot x =
dx
1 + x2

d
sec x = tan x sec x,
dx
d
csc x = csc x cot x,
dx

20 Exponential denitions
21 Miscellaneous
21.1 Dirichlet kernel
The Dirichlet kernel Dn(x) is the function occurring on
both sides of the next identity:
sin

1+2 cos(x)+2 cos(2x)+2 cos(3x)+ +2 cos(nx) =

d
1

arcsec x =
dx
|x| x2 1 The convolution of any integrable function of period 2
with the Dirichlet kernel coincides with the functions nthdegree Fourier approximation. The same holds for any
d
1

arccsc x =
measure or generalized function.
dx
|x| x2 1

The integral identities can be found in "list of integrals of

21.2 Tangent half-angle substitution
trigonometric functions". Some generic forms are listed
below.
Main article: Tangent half-angle substitution

(u)
du

= sin1
+C
a
a2 u 2

(u)
1
du
= tan1
+C
2
2
a +u
a
a

u
du
1
 

= sec1   + C
2
2
a
a
u u a

19.1

Implications

The fact that the dierentiation of trigonometric functions (sine and cosine) results in linear combinations of
the same two functions is of fundamental importance to
many elds of mathematics, including dierential equations and Fourier transforms.

19.2

If we set

t = tan

(x)
2

then[43]

sin(x) =

1 t2
1 + it
2t
and
cos(x)
=
and eix =
2
2
1+t
1+t
1 it

where eix = cos(x) + i sin(x), sometimes abbreviated to

cis(x).

When this substitution of t for tan(x/2) is used in calculus,

it follows that sin(x) is replaced by 2t/(1 + t 2 ), cos(x) is
replaced by (1 t 2 )/(1 + t 2 ) and the dierential dx is replaced by (2 dt)/(1 + t 2 ). Thereby one converts rational
functions of sin(x) and cos(x) to rational functions of t in
Some dierential equations satised order to nd their antiderivatives.

by the sine function

Let i = 1 be the imaginary unit and let denote composition of dierential operators. Then for every odd positive integer n,

22 See also
Derivatives of trigonometric functions

[(

) ]
n + 12 x
( )
.
sin x2

11
Exact trigonometric constants (values of sine and cosine expressed in surds)
Exsecant
Half-side formula
Hyperbolic function
Laws for solution of triangles:
Law of cosines
Spherical law of cosines

[14] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 80, 4.4.36

[15] Bronstein, Manuel (1989). Simplication of real elementary functions. In G. H. Gonnet (ed.). Proceedings
of the ACM-SIGSAM 1989 International Symposium on
Symbolic and Algebraic Computation. ISSAC'89 (Portland US-OR, 1989-07). New York: ACM. pp. 207211.
doi:10.1145/74540.74566. ISBN 0-89791-325-6.
[16] Weisstein, Eric
MathWorld.

W.,

Multiple-Angle

[17] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 74, 4.3.48

Law of sines

[18] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 72, 4.3.2426

Law of tangents

[19] Weisstein, Eric

MathWorld.

Law of cotangents
Mollweides formula

Formulas,

W.,

Double-Angle

Formulas,

[20] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 72, 4.3.2728

List of integrals of trigonometric functions

[21] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 72, 4.3.2022

Proofs of trigonometric identities

[22] Weisstein, Eric W., Half-Angle Formulas, MathWorld.

Prosthaphaeresis
Pythagorean theorem

[23] Ken Wards Mathematics Pages, http://www.trans4mind.

com/personal_development/mathematics/trigonometry/
multipleAnglesRecursiveFormula.htm

Tangent half-angle formula

[24] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 72, 4.3.3133

Trigonometry

[25] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 72, 4.3.3439

Uses of trigonometry

[26] Warren P. Johnson, Trigonometric Identities la Hermite, American Mathematical Monthly, volume 117,
number 4, April 2010, pages 311327

Versine and haversine

23

Notes

[1] Schaumberger, N. A Classroom Theorem on Trigonometric Irrationalities. Two-Year College Math. J. 5, 7376, 1974. also see Weisstein, Eric W. Nivens Theorem. From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource.
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/NivensTheorem.html
[2] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 73, 4.3.45
[3] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 78, 4.3.147

[27] Proof at http://pages.pacificcoast.net/~{}cazelais/252/

lc-trig.pdf
[28] Eddie Ortiz Muiz (February 1953). A Method for
Deriving Various Formulas in Electrostatics and Electromagnetism Using Lagranges Trigonometric Identities.
American Journal of Physics 21 (2): 140.
doi:10.1119/1.1933371.
[29] Alan Jerey and Hui-hui Dai (2008). Section 2.4.1.6.
Handbook of Mathematical Formulas and Integrals (4th
ed.). Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-374288-9.

[4] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 72, 4.3.1315

[30] Michael P. Knapp, Sines and Cosines of Angles in Arithmetic Progression

[5] The Elementary Identities

[31] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 74, 4.3.47

[6] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 72, 4.3.9

[32] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 71, 4.3.2

[7] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 72, 4.3.78

[33] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 71, 4.3.1

[8] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 72, 4.3.16

[34] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 75, 4.3.8990

[9] Weisstein, Eric W., Trigonometric Addition Formulas,

MathWorld.

[35] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 85, 4.5.6869

[10] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 72, 4.3.17

[36] Weisstein, Eric W., "Sine" from MathWorld

[12] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 80, 4.4.42

[37] Milton Abramowitz and Irene Stegun, Handbook of Mathematical Functions with Formulas, Graphs, and Mathematical Tables, Dover Publications, New York, 1972, formula 9.1.42

[13] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 80, 4.4.43

[38] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 77, 4.3.105110

[11] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 72, 4.3.18

12

25

[39] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 82, 4.4.5257

[40] Finney, Ross (2003). Calculus : Graphical, Numerical,
Algebraic. Glenview, Illinois: Prentice Hall. pp. 159
161. ISBN 0-13-063131-0.
[41] Peter Kuchment and Sergey Lvin, Identities for sin x that
Came from Medical Imaging, American Mathematical
Monthly, volume 120, AugustSeptember, 2013, pages
609621.
[42] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 80, 4.4.2631
[43] Abramowitz and Stegun, p. 72, 4.3.23

24

References

Abramowitz, Milton; Stegun, Irene A., eds. (1972).

Handbook of Mathematical Functions with Formulas, Graphs, and Mathematical Tables. New York:
Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0-486-61272-0.

25

External links

Values of Sin and Cos, expressed in surds, for integer multiples of 3 and of 5 5 8 , and for the same
angles Csc and Sec and Tan.

EXTERNAL LINKS

13

26
26.1

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

List of trigonometric identities Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_trigonometric_identities?oldid=631233027 Contributors:

Damian Yerrick, AxelBoldt, Zundark, The Anome, Taral, Ap, Bdesham, Patrick, Michael Hardy, JakeVortex, Kku, Gabbe, SGBailey,
Meekohi, Komap, Dcljr, TakuyaMurata, Ejrh, Ahoerstemeier, Cyp, DavidWBrooks, Humanoid, Darkwind, Whkoh, AugPi, Hashar, Revolver, Artoo, Charles Matthews, Timwi, Dysprosia, Hydnjo, Markhurd, Saltine, Populus, Donarreiskoer, Robbot, Naddy, Sverdrup,
AceMyth, Wereon, Jleedev, Tobias Bergemann, Connelly, Giftlite, Luis Dantas, BenFrantzDale, Tom harrison, Herbee, Fropu, Wwoods,
Physman, Alexf, Fangz, MarkSweep, Anythingyouwant, Icairns, Sam Hocevar, Bjacob, Karl Dickman, TheObtuseAngleOfDoom, Xrchz,
Dissipate, Klaas van Aarsen, Rich Farmbrough, Avriette, Gadykozma, Gauge, Pmetzger, Pt, Shanes, RoyBoy, Triona, Bobo192, Army1987,
Longhair, Kappa, MPerel, DATR, Landroni, NickCatal, Mrzaius, PAR, Hu, Velella, Dynotec, H2g2bob, Algocu, Kenyon, Falcorian, Oleg
Alexandrov, Tournesol, Hello5959us, Starwiz, Guardian of Light, The Wordsmith, Isnow, Jonathan48, Mandarax, Graham87, Kbdank71,
Rjwilmsi, OneWeirdDude, MarSch, Yamamoto Ichiro, Alejo2083, FlaBot, Dhanakorn, Mathbot, Greg321, Nivix, Nimur, OrbitOne, Sodin,
Glenn L, Chobot, Elpaw, Manscher, YurikBot, Wavelength, Klingoncowboy4, Fabartus, Rsrikanth05, NawlinWiki, MathMan64, JocK,
Amakuha, Arthur Rubin, Reyk, LeonardoRob0t, JLaTondre, Gesslein, Bo Jacoby, SmackBot, RDBury, Nkrupans, Hal Canary, InverseHypercube, Lantianer, Delldot, BiT, Gilliam, Jcarroll, ERcheck, Bluebot, Kurykh, JCSantos, Gaiacarra, PrimeHunter, Papa November,
Octahedron80, Nbarth, Sciyoshi, DHN-bot, Philc 0780, Derekt75, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, Tochjo, Mhym, Ctifumdope, Mwtoews,
TriTertButoxy, Lambiam, Cronholm144, Jim.belk, Genedial, Kirbytime, Jamie King, Whitehat, AdultSwim, Inquisitus, JDAWiseman,
Igoldste, A. Pichler, Pfeldman, Daniel5127, Conrad.Irwin, CBM, Walling, GHe, Dgw, NickW557, Doctormatt, Cario24, ZHENG Jiajun, Leobh, Goldencako, Chluk2425, Verdy p, Christian75, TertX, Thijs!bot, Epbr123, ChronoPilot, Braveorca, King Bee, Hazmat2,
Marek69, ThreePointOneFour, Escarbot, CZeke, Konman72, Luna Santin, Chajadan, Fusionshrimp, Res2216restar, Sejomagno, MagiMaster, Asmeurer, TV4Fun, Coolhandscot, Matt O., JamesBWatson, Pezeta, Email4mobile, Balloonguy, Sriramoman, BrianGV, Noodle
snacks, David Eppstein, Bobby H. Heey, Lionsh0, PappyK, Vining, RaitisMath, Valvwen, MartinBot, Mythealias, R'n'B, Pbroks13,
Qrystal, Pharaoh of the Wizards, Extransit, Shadowaltar, AntiSpamBot, WotamRobin, Bobianite, Freiddie, Vanished user 39948282, The
Geography Elite, Funandtrvl, Davidp314, Celtic Minstrel, X!, Akhram, 28bytes, JohnBlackburne, LokiClock, Coluberbri, Anonymous
Dissident, Qxz, Telking, Zimbardo Cookie Experiment, Dronir, Staka, Historywiz123, PhysOz, Cnilep, Dmcq, Mike4ty4, Trojanhippie,
AlleborgoBot, Ian Glenn, SieBot, ToePeu.bot, Winchelsea, Soler97, MathDawg024, KnowledgeHegemony, Cole SWE, Flyer22, Tigger10,
Aly89, Oxymoron83, Iameukarya, Sean.hoyland, Loren.wilton, ClueBot, LAX, HairyFotr, Jon314, Rhubbarb, Fireballwater, Excirial,
Alexbot, Brews ohare, Mikaey, Franklin.vp, Acabashi, Rphlypo, 7, Plasmic Physics, SoxBot III, Crowsnest, DumZiBoT, Kiensvay, Jed
20012, HexaChord, Addbot, Some jerk on the Internet, Fgnievinski, AkhtaBot, Fieldday-sunday, Driscoll42, MrOllie, Download, Debresser, LinkFA-Bot, Ozob, Barak Sh, Tide rolls, Cattile, MaBoehm, Balabiot, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Jamacfarlane, Fraggle81, Legobot
II, Estudiarme, A048042l, THEN WHO WAS PHONE?, KamikazeBot, AnomieBOT, Decora, AUG, Materialscientist, Citation bot,
Apollo, LilHelpa, Andrewmc123, NOrbeck, Charvest, Sidious1741, Pjbeierle, Samwb123, FrescoBot, Mitizhi, Intel31337, Nixphoeni,
Barsamin, Citation bot 1, Darij, 00Ragora00, DrilBot, I dream of horses, Adlerbot, Calmer Waters, RedBot, Pikiwyn, Tcnuk, Gryllida,
Double sharp, GandalfNK, Vrenator, DARTH SIDIOUS 2, Alph Bot, Philologer, EmausBot, ScottyBerg, Super48paul, Tommy2010,
Wikipelli, Slawekb, Tanner Swett, Joao.pimentel.ferreira, JSquish, ZroBot, Josve05a, SamHB, TestSubject528491, GabKBel, Stwalczyk,
Ocaasi, Olainen, Maschen, Chewings72, Fr3aki, Michaelnikolaou, Matthewrbowker, A2569875, ClueBot NG, KlappCK, Piast93, Fauzan,
Tacamo, Millermk, Frietjes, Braincricket, Marechal Ney, Widr, Helpful Pixie Bot, BG19bot, IrishCowboy, Vilius Normantas, Aranea
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Kevin12xd, Dhruvil7797, Hamsters62947, Reatlas, Grigorios Kostakos, Dr. Hania M. Nasir, Tentinator, Spartalives, Nphirning, I eat
fried chicken, Shaun9876, Oscarjd74, Param Mudgal, Ryleelove, Monkbot, Wefwefwef, Tuncelapaydin, Loraof and Anonymous: 691

26.2

Images

File:AngleAdditionDiagram.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/AngleAdditionDiagramSine.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Vector art software Original artist: Gaiacarra
File:AngleAdditionDiagramTangent.svg
Source:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/
AngleAdditionDiagramTangent.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Oscarjd74
File:Circle-trig6.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Circle-trig6.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: This is a vector graphic version of Image:Circle-trig6.png by user:Tttrung which was licensed under the GFDL. ; Based on
en:Image:Circle-trig6.png, which was donated to Wikipedia under GFDL by Steven G. Johnson. Original artist: This is a vector graphic
version of Image:Circle-trig6.png by user:Tttrung which was licensed under the GFDL. Based on en:Image:Circle-trig6.png, which was
donated to Wikipedia under GFDL by Steven G. Johnson.
File:Unit_circle_angles_color.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Unit_circle_angles_color.svg License:
CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Jim.belk

26.3

Content license

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