Unit 9

Calculus of Trigonometric Functions

Review of Trigonometric Functions
You will have learned in previous courses about the six trigonometric
functions - functions which associate numeric values with angles. These are
the sine, cosine and tangent functions, as well as the cosecant, secant and
cotangent functions. If t is any angle, we denote these functions by sin t,
cos t, tan t, csc t, sec t and cot t, respectively.
You are probably most familiar with angles being measured in degrees.
However, you have most likely also encountered the radian, which is another
unit of measurement for angles. In calculus, angles are always measured in
radians. The technical denition of the radian measure of an angle is the
ratio of the arc length produced by that angle to the radius.
Denition 9.1. Consider a segment of a circle. Let r be the radius of the
circle and s be the arc length of the segment. Then the angle between the
radii producing the segment is t radians, where t =
s
r
.
For instance, if we consider a full circle, we know that the arc length
(i.e. the perimeter of the circle) is s = 2r. So we see that there are
t =
s
r
=
2r
r
= 2 radians in a full circle.
Similarly, if we consider a right-angle, we are dealing with a circle segment
which is one quarter of a full circle. So the arc length is s =
1
4
(2r) =

2
r
and we see that a right-angle is

2
radians.
Note: If you need to convert from degrees to radians, determine what
proportion of a full circle (360

) the degree measurement represents, and

take that same proportion of 2, just as we did above. For instance, for 60

,
we have 60

=
1
6
(360

) =
1
6
(2)radians =

3
radians. Similarly, if you need
1
to convert from radians to degrees, nd the proportion of 2 represented by
the radian measure and take that same proportion of 360

. For instance,

4
radians =
1
8
(2 radians) =
1
8
(360

) = 45

.
Recall that for an angle smaller than a right-angle, the trigonometric
function values can be found by considering a right-angled triangle containing
that angle. Consider an angle of t radians, with 0 < t <

2
. Construct a right-
angled triangle containing this angle, as shown. Let the side lengths be: r for
the hypotenuse, x for the side adjacent to angle t and y for the side opposite
angle t.

t
x
y
r
Then the sine value of the angle is given by the ratio of the length of the
opposite side to the length of the hypotenuse, i.e., sin t =
opp
hyp
=
y
r
. And the
cosine value of the angle is given by the ratio of the length of the adjacent
side to the length of the hypotenuse, i.e. cos t =
adj
hyp
=
x
r
.
The other trigonometric functions can all be expressed in terms of the
sine and cosine functions. We have:
tan t =
sint
cos t
csc t =
1
sin t
sec t =
1
cos t
cot t =
cos t
sint
In this course, since we dont use calculators, it is necessary to know the
trig function values of a few basic angles. First of all, remember that both sine
and cosine values cycle between 1 and 1. That is, we have 1 sin x 1
and 1 cos x 1 for any angle x. The curve y = sin x passes through the
origin, reaches a peak at x =

2
and then crosses the x-axis again at x = .
So we have sin 0 = 0, sin
_

2
_
= 1 and sin = 0. The curve y = cos x is
similar, but shifted
1
4
cycle (i.e.

2
radians) to the left, so it is at a peak as it
crosses the y-axis, it crosses the x-axis at

2
and reaches its minimum value
at x = . So we have cos 0 = 1, cos
_

2
_
= 0 and cos = 1.
The other angles you need to know trig function values of can be deter-
mined by considering 2 special triangles. The rst you probably know as the
30

-60

-90

triangle. But this is calculus, so the angles are

6
,

3
and

2
.
2
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H

3
1
2
In this triangle, the short side is half as long as the hypotenuse. Let-
ting the length of the short side be 1 unit, the hypotenuse has length 2
and the length of the third side is given by the Pythagorean Theorem as

2
2
1
2
=

3. (That is, 1
2
+ (

3)
2
= 2
2
). From this triangle, and using
sin t =
opp
hyp
and cos t =
adj
hyp
, we see that sin
_

3
_
=

3
2
and cos
_

3
_
=
1
2
, and
also that sin
_

6
_
=
1
2
and cos
_

6
_
=

3
2
.
(Another way to keep these values straight is to remember that y = sin x
is increasing on [0,

2
], so the sine value of the smaller angle (i.e. sin
_

6
_
)
is less than the sine value of the bigger of these angles (i.e. sin
_

3
_
), and
of course
1
2
<

3
2
(since

3 > 1). For the cosine function, the values are

switched, because y = cos x is a decreasing function on [0,

2
].)
The second triangle is an isosceles right-angled triangle in which the hy-
potenuse is the one non-equal side. Letting the lengths of the two equal sides
be 1 unit, we get the length of the hypotenuse as

1
2
+ 1
2
=

2. The 2 equal
angles are of course both

4
(since the right angle measures

2
radians and the
angles in a triangle must sum to 180

= radians), so using sin t =

opp
hyp
and
cos t =
adj
hyp
, we see that sin
_

4
_
= cos
_

4
_
=
1

2
.
@
@
@
@
@
@
@
1
1

4
The table on the next page shows the trig function values you are ex-
pected to know. (The preceding explanations are given only to help you
remember them.)
3
Angle Sine Value Cosine Value
t = 0 sin 0 = 0 cos 0 = 1
t =

6
sin
_

6
_
=
1
2
cos
_

6
_
=

3
2
t =

4
sin
_

4
_
=
1

2
cos
_

4
_
=
1

2
t =

3
sin
_

3
_
=

3
2
cos
_

3
_
=
1
2
t =

2
sin
_

2
_
= 1 cos
_

2
_
= 0
t = sin = 0 cos = 1
We nd values of the other trig functions for these angles using the re-
lationships of the other functions to the sine and cosine functions. We nd
trig function values of these same angles in other quadrants using the CAST
Rule. That is, if we have an angle t outside of the rst quadrant, we look
at the acute angle made with the x-axis (i.e with a horizontal line). The
trig function value of the angle t is the same as the trig function value of
this acute angle, except that its sign might be changed. The CAST Rule
tells us about which of the 3 main trig functions are positive in each quad-
rant, starting with the fourth quadrant and moving counterclockwise: only
Cosine, All, only Sine, only Tangent.
T
S
C
A
There are also 3 trig identities which you may nd useful:
1. For any angle t, sin
2
t + cos
2
t = 1
(Recall: We write powers of trig functions by writing the exponent
between the function and the angle. So, for instance, sin
2
t denotes
(sin t)
2
.)
2. For any angle t, sin(2t) = 2 sin t cos t.
3. For any t for which cos t = 0, 1 + tan
2
t = sec
2
t.
(This can be found from (1.) by dividing through by cos
2
t.)
4
Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions
We start from the following simple facts, which we accept without proof
(because technical proofs of these go beyond the scope of this course).
Fact:
d
dt
(sin t) = cos t
d
dt
(cos t) = sin t
Of course, we can also have more complex situations, in which we are
dealing with the sine or cosine of some function of t. Suppose u is any func-
tion of t. Then using the above facts and chain rule, we get:
d
dt
(sin(u)) = cos(u)
du
dt
d
dt
(cos(u)) = sin(u)
du
dt
Example 1. Find dy/dt, where y = sin(t
2
+ t).
Solution:
dy
dt
=
d
dt
(sin(t
2
+ t)) =
d
dt
(sin(u)) where u = t
2
+ t
= cos(u)
du
dt
with
du
dt
= 2t + 1
So
dy
dt
= [cos(t
2
+ t)](2t + 1)
= (2t + 1) cos(t
2
+ t)
5
Example 2. Find dw/dx, where w = cos(2x
3
5x).
Solution:
dw
dx
=
d
dx
(cos(2x
3
5x)) =
d
dx
(cos(u)) where u = 2x
3
5x
= sin(u)
du
dx
with
du
dx
= 6x
2
5
So
dw
dx
= [sin(2x
3
5x)](6x
2
5)
= (6x
2
5)[sin(2x
3
5x)]
= (5 6x
2
) sin(2x
3
5x)
Now that we know the derivatives of the sine and cosine functions, we can
use them to nd the derivatives of the other trigonometric functions, because
we know how to state all of the other trig functions in terms of the sine and
cosine functions.
Example 3. Find
d
dt
(tant).
d
dt
(tant) =
d
dt
_
sin t
cos t
_
=
(cos t)(cos t)(sint)(sin t)
(cos t)
2
, by the Quotient Rule
=
cos
2
t+sin
2
t
cos
2
t
=
1
cos
2
t
(because sin
2
t + cos
2
t = 1)
=
_
1
cos t
_
2
= (sec t)
2
So we see that
d
dt
(tant) = sec
2
t
6
Example 4. Find
d
dt
(sec t).
Solution: We know that sec t =
1
cos t
= (cos t)
1
. So we have
d
dt
(sec t) =
d
dt
_
(cos t)
1

= (1)(cos t)
2
_
d
dt
(cos t)
_
=
_
1
cos t
_
2
(sin t)
=
_
1
cos t
__
sin t
cos t
_
= sec t tant
We see that
d
dt
(sec t) = sec t tan t.
Exercise: Verify and know the following derivatives.
f(t) f

(t)
cot t csc
2
t
csc t csc t cot t
7
Theorem 9.2. Together with the chain rule, the above results give us the
following chart, where u is some function of x:
f(u) f

(u)
sin(u) [cos(u)] (
du
dx
)
cos(u) [sin(u)] (
du
dx
)
tan(u) [sec
2
(u)] (
du
dx
)
csc(u) [csc(u) cot(u)] (
du
dx
)
sec(u) [sec(u) tan(u)] (
du
dx
)
cot(u) [csc
2
(u)] (
du
dx
)
Example 5. Find
dy
dt
if y = cot (t
3
+ e
t
).
Solution:
d
dt
(cot(t
3
+ e
t
)) =
d
dt
(cot(u)) where u = t
3
+ e
t
= [csc
2
(u)]
du
dt
with
du
dt
= 3t
2
+ e
t
So
dy
dt
= [csc
2
(t
3
+ e
t
)](3t
2
+ e
t
) = (3t
2
+ e
t
) csc
2
(t
3
+ e
t
)
When we dierentiate more complicated functions involving trigonomet-
ric functions, we must always remember that these trig functions are func-
tions, so we have functions of functions of the variable, and theres always
lots of chain rule required.
8
Example 6. Find the derivative of sin (e
2t
).
Solution:
d
dt
(sin (e
2t
)) = [cos (e
2t
)]
_
d
dt
e
2t

(by the Chain Rule)

= [cos (e
2t
)] [2e
2t
]
= 2e
2t
cos (e
2t
)
Example 7. Find f

2
_
where f(t) = tan
_
t
2
_
.
Solution: f

(t) =
_
sec
2
_
t
2
_ _
d
dt
_
t
2
_
=
1
2
sec
2
_
t
2
_
,
so we get f

2
_
=
1
2
sec
2
_

2
2
_
=
1
2
_
sec
_

4
__
2
.
Since cos
_

4
_
=
1

2
, then sec
_

4
_
=

2.
Thus f

2
_
=
1
2
_
2
_
2
= 1.
Example 8. Find g

(x) where g(x) = e

sec
2
x
.
Solution: We have the form e
u
and we know that
d
dx
(e
u
) = e
u du
dx
.
So g

(x) = e
sec
2
x
_
d
dx
(sec
2
x)

.
Of course,
d
dx
(sec
2
x) = 2(sec x)
1
_
d
dx
(sec x)

, by the power and chain rules,

so we have
g

(x) = e
sec
2
x
(2 sec x)(sec xtan x)
= e
sec
2
x
_
2 sec
2
xtan x
_
= 2e
sec
2
x
sec
2
xtanx
9
Example 9. Find
dy
dt
where y = sin (cos(ln t)).
Solution: We have the form y = sin u, where u = cos(ln t). To nd
du
dt
, we
will need another substitution. We see that u = cos v where v = ln t. So by
the Chain Rule we have
du
dt
=
du
dv

dv
dt
=
_
d
dv
(cos v)
_ _
d
dt
(ln t)
_
= (sin v)
_
1
t
_
=
sin(ln t)
t
and for
dy
dt
, using the Chain Rule again we get
dy
dt
=
dy
du

du
dt
=
_
d
du
(sin u)
_ _
du
dt
_
= (cos u)
_

sin(lnt)
t
_
=
[cos (cos(ln t))] sin(lnt)
t
Example 10. Find the slope of the tangent line to the curve described by
sin(2y) + cos
_
x
2
_
+ x
3
y = (x + y + 1)
3
at the point (0, 0).
Solution: We know that the slope of the tangent line is given by
dy
dx
. Here,
our equation relating x and y implicitly denes y to be a function of x, so we
use implicit dierentiation to nd
dy
dx
. That is, we dierentiate with respect
to x, using the chain rule when we dierentiate an expression involving y, so
we use the fact that
d
dx
(f(y)) = f

(y)
dy
dx
.
Dierentiating both sides of the equation, we have:
d
dx
(sin(2y)) +
d
dx
_
cos
_
x
2
__
+
d
dx
_
x
3
y
_
=
d
dx
_
(x + y + 1)
3

For the left hand side, we have:

[cos(2y)]
_
d
dx
(2y)
_
+
_
sin
_
x
2
_
_
d
dx
_
x
2
_
_
+
_
3x
2
y + x
3
dy
dx
_
10
= [cos(2y)]
_
2
dy
dx
_

_
sin
_
x
2
_
(2x) + 3x
2
y + x
3
dy
dx
and for the right hand side we have:
3(x + y + 1)
2
_
d
dx
(x + y + 1)
_
= 3(x + y + 1)
2
_
1 +
dy
dx
_
so we need
[2 cos(2y)]
dy
dx
2xsin(x
2
) + 3x
2
y + (x
3
)
dy
dx
= 3(x + y + 1)
2
_
1 +
dy
dx
_
To nd
dy
dx
at the point (x, y) = (0, 0), we simply substitute in x = 0, y = 0
and solve for
dy
dx
. We get
(2 cos(0))
dy
dx
(0)(sin(0)) + 0 + 0 = 3(0 + 0 + 1)
2
_
1 +
dy
dx
_
2(1)
dy
dx
0 = 3 + 3
dy
dx
2
dy
dx
3
dy
dx
= 3
dy
dx
= 3
dy
dx
= 3
We see that at the point (0, 0), the curve sin(2y)+cos (x
2
)+x
3
y = (x+y+1)
3
has a tangent line with slope 3.
Integration of Trigonometric Functions
Using our knowledge of the derivatives of trigonometric functions from
the previous section, we get the following general antiderivatives:
_
sin(u)du = cos(u) + C
_
cos(u)du = sin(u) + C
_
sec
2
(u)du = tan(u) + C
We use these, along with our usual integration techniques, to evaluate in-
tegrals in which the integrands are more complicated functions which involve
these trigonometric functions.
11
Example 11. Find
_
xcos(x
2
)dx.
Solution: We need the Substitution Rule.
Letting u = x
2
we have
du
dx
= 2x xdx =
1
2
du . We get:
_
xcos
_
x
2
_
dx =
_
(cos u)
_
1
2
_
du
=
1
2
_
cos udu
=
1
2
sin u + C
Thus we see that
_
xcos(x
2
)dx =
1
2
sin(x
2
) + C.
Example 12. Evaluate
_
/6
0
cos(2x)dx.
Solution: Again, we use the Substitution Rule.
Letting u = 2x we have
du
dx
= 2 dx =
1
2
du
As for our limits of integration we have
x = 0 u = 0 and x =

6
u = 2(

6
) =

3
So we get:
_
/6
0
cos(2x)dx =
1
2
_
/3
0
cos udu
=
_
1
2
sin u
_
/3
0
=
1
2
_
sin
_

3
_
sin 0
_
=
1
2
_

3
2
0
_
(because sin

3
=

3
2
and sin 0 = 0)
=

3
4
12
Example 13. Evaluate
_
3
0
sin(
x
3
)dx.
Solution: Letting u =
x
3
we have
du
dx
=
1
3
dx = 3du .
For our limits of integration we have
x = 0 u = 0 and x = 3 u =
3
3
=
So we get:
_
3
0
sin(
x
3
)dx = 3
_

0
sin udu,
= 3 [cos u]

0
= 3 [cos cos 0]
= 3 (1 1), (because cos = 1 and cos 0 = 1)
= 6
Example 14. Evaluate
_
4
0
sec
2
t tantdt.
Solution: We dont recognize the integrand functions, sec
2
t tant as the
derivative of some function. Perhaps substitution will work. If we think
about sec
2
t tant, we see that we have a function of t (i.e. tan t) times its
derivative. So we let u = tan t, which gives du = sec
2
tdt.
When t = 0, u = tan 0 =
sin0
cos 0
=
0
1
= 0.
When t =

4
, u = tan
_

4
_
=
sin(

4
)
cos(

4
)
=
1

2
1

2
= 1.
Thus we have
_
4
0
sec
2
t tan tdt =
_
1
0
udu =
u
2
2

1
0
=
1
2
13
Example 15. Find
_
te
t
2
cos
_
e
t
2
_
sin
_
sin
_
e
t
2
__
dt.
Solution: This is pretty ugly, but maybe a substitution will work. The inte-
grand function is a product of several terms, of which the most complicated
is sin
_
sin
_
e
t
2
__
, which is a trig function of a trig function of a function of
t. Lets try u = sin
_
e
t
2
_
, so that this most complicated term is simply sin u.
We get:
du
dt
=
d
dt
_
sin
_
e
t
2
__
=
_
cos
_
e
t
2
__
_
d
dt
_
e
t
2
_
_
=
_
cos
_
e
t
2
__ _
e
t
2
_
_
d
dt
_
t
2
_
_
=
_
cos
_
e
t
2
__ _
e
t
2
_
(2t)
We have du = 2te
t
2
cos
_
e
t
2
_
dt, so that te
t
2
cos
_
e
t
2
_
dt =
1
2
du.
Thus we see that:
_
te
t
2
cos
_
e
t
2
_
sin
_
sin
_
e
t
2
__
dt =
1
2
_
sin udu
=
1
2
(cos u) + C
=
cos
_
sin
_
e
t
2
__
2
+ C
Example 16. Find the area under the curve y =
sint
1+cos t
from t =

3
to t =

2
.
Solution: We do this in the usual way. That is, the area under the curve
y = f(t) from t = a to t = b is given by A =
_
b
a
f(t)dt, when y = f(t)
is continuous and non-negative on [a, b]. Here, we see that f(t) =
sin t
1+cos t
is
continuous and lies above the x-axis throughout the interval
_

3
,

2

(because
14
sin t > 0 on
_

3
,

2

and cos t 0 on
_

3
,

2

so that 1 + cos t is also strictly

positive on this interval and hence
sin t
1+cos t
, a quotient of 2 positive numbers,
is positive). So we see that the area, A, is given by:
A =
_
2

3
sin t
1 + cos t
dt
To evaluate this integral, we need to use a substitution. After some thought,
we recognize the integrand function as having the form
cg

(t)
g(t)
. That is, we can
use the substitution u = 1 +cos t so that du = sin tdt (i.e. sin tdt = du).
Under this substitution, when t =

3
, we have u = 1 + cos
_

3
_
= 1 +
1
2
=
3
2
,
and when t =

2
, we have u = 1 + cos
_

2
_
= 1 + 0 = 1. Thus we see that:
_
2

3
sin t
1 + cos t
dt =
_
1
3
2
1
u
du
=
_ 3
2
1
1
u
du
= [ln |u|]
3
2
1
= ln
_
3
2
_
ln 1 = ln
_
3
2
_
Therefore the area under the curve y =
sin t
1+cos t
from t =

3
to t =

2
is ln
_
3
2
_
.
Example 17. Find
_
xcos xdx.
Solution: We do not recognize the integrand function as the derivative of
any function, and we are unable to nd a substitution which will help. (Try
it). The next method we try is Integration by Parts, using the formula
_
udv = uv
_
vdu.
The integrand function is the product of 2 terms, x and cos x. We see that
the function x gets simpler when we dierentiate and more complicated when
we integrate, whereas the function cos x gets neither more nor less compli-
cated under either dierentiation or integration. So we choose the substi-
tution which makes x get less complicated. That is, we choose u = x and
15
dv = cos xdx to get:
u = x du = dx
dv = cos xdx v = sin x
Substituting into the Integration by Parts formula we get:
_
xcos xdx =
_
udv
= uv
_
vdu
= xsin x
_
sin xdx
= xsin x + cos x + C
Example 18. Find
_
2xsec
2
xdx.
Solution: Again, we do not recognize the integrand function and cannot nd
a helpful substitution. We will try integration by parts.
The integrand is the product of 2x and sec
2
x. Since 2x becomes less com-
plicated when dierentiated and we can easily integrate sec
2
x (which also
then becomes less complicated), we try u = 2x and dv = sec
2
xdx. This gives
du = 2dx and v = tanx, so we have:
_
2xsec
2
xdx =
_
udv
= uv
_
vdu
= (2x)(tan x)
_
(tan x)2dx
= 2xtanx 2
_
tan xdx
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But what is
_
tan xdx? We dont recognize tanx as a derivative. However,
we can rewrite this integrand to get:
_
tanxdx =
_
sin x
cos x
dx
In this form, we recognize something we know how to integrate. If we substi-
tute w = cos x, then we have dw = sin xdx, so that sin xdx = dw. Thus,
we get:
_
tanxdx =
_
sin x
cos x
dx =
_
1
w
dw = ln |w| + C = ln | cos x| + C
Substituting this into our previous result, we get:
_
2xsec
2
xdx = 2xtanx 2
_
tanxdx
= 2xtanx 2 (ln | cos x| + C)
= 2xtanx + 2 ln| cos x| + C
1
= 2xtanx + ln(cos x)
2
+ C
1
Note: You may nd it useful to remember that (as derived above):
_
tan xdx = ln | cos x| + C
and of course we can rewrite ln | cos x| as:
ln | cos x| = (1) ln | cos x|
= ln (| cos x|)
1
= ln
_
1
| cos x|
_
= ln

1
cos x

= ln | sec x|
so we can also express this as
_
tan xdx = ln | sec x| + C.
17