Trigonometric Identities

All of the following only apply when the denominator is not equal to zero.

 tan \theta = \frac{y}{x}

Because the following are inverses of their counterparts, you only need to remember the equivalents for sin, cos, and tan, then just find the inverse by taking 1/v.

Base Identity	Inverse Identity	Alternate Identities	Alternate Inverse Identities
sin\theta = y	csc\theta = \frac{1}{y}		csc\theta = \frac{1}{sin\theta}
cos\theta = x	sec \theta = \frac{1}{x}		sec\theta = \frac{1}{cos\theta}
tan\theta = \frac{y}{x}	cot\theta = \frac{x}{y}	tan\theta = \frac{sin\theta}{cos\theta}	cot\theta = \frac{1}{tan\theta} = \frac{cos\theta}{sin{\theta}}

 cot \theta = \frac{x}{y}

 sec\theta = \frac{1}{cos\theta}

 csc\theta = \frac{1}{sin\theta}

Pythagorean Identities

The Pythagorean identity expresses the Pythagorean theorem in terms of trigonometric functions. It's a basic relation between the sine and cosine functions.

 sin^2 \theta + cos^2 \theta = 1

There are more forms that are useful, but they can be derived from the above formula:

 1 + tan^2\theta = sec^2\theta

 cot^2 \theta + 1 = csc^2\theta

Even and Odd Identities

A function is even if f(-x) = f(x).
A function is odd if f(-x) = -f(x)
Cosine and secant are even
Sine, tangent, cosecant, and cotangent are odd.

Examples

Even and Odd Functions

If cot\theta = -\sqrt{3}, what is cot(-\theta)?

cot is an odd function, and so cot(-\theta) = \sqrt{3}

Simplifying Using Identities

Simplify \frac{sin\theta}{cos\theta}

The above equation can be split into two components

 \frac{sin\theta}{cos\theta} = \frac{sin\theta}{1} * \frac{1}{csc\theta}

Referring to the list of trig identities, we know that \frac{1}{csc\theta} is equal to sin\theta.

 \frac{sin\theta}{1} * \frac{1}{csc\theta} = sin\theta * sin\theta

Simplifying further, we get:

 sin^2\theta

Finding all values using identities

If sec\theta = -\frac{25}{7} and 0 < \theta < \pi, find the values of the other 5 trig functions:

Using the trig identity 1 + tan^2\theta = cot^2\theta, we can do this:

 1 + tan^2\theta = (-\frac{25}{7})^2

$25^2

2.7 KiB Raw Blame History