Trigonometric Identities

Sum and Difference Formulas

sin (x + y) = sin x cos y + cos x sin y sin (x − y) = sin x cos y − cos x sin y
cos (x + y) = cos x cos y − sin x sin y cos (x − y) = cos x cos y + sin x sin y
tan x+tan y tan x−tan y
tan (x + y) = 1−tan x tan y
tan (x − y) = 1+tan x tan y

Half-Angle Formulas
q q q
sin 2θ = ± 1−cos
2
θ
cos 2θ = ± 1+cos
2
θ
tan 2θ = ± 1−cos θ
1+cos θ

tan 2θ = 1−cos x
sin x
tan 2θ = sin θ
1+cos θ

Double-Angle Formulas

sin 2θ = 2 sin θ cos θ cos 2θ = cos2 θ − sin2 θ tan 2θ = 2 tan θ

1−tan2 θ

cos 2θ = 2 cos2 θ − 1 cos 2θ = 1 − 2 sin2 θ

Product-to-Sum Formulas

sin x sin y = 12 [cos (x − y) − cos (x + y)] cos x cos y = 21 [cos (x − y) + cos (x + y)]
sin x cos y = 12 [sin (x + y) + sin (x − y)]
Sum-to-Product Formulas

sin x + sin y = 2 sin x+y cos x−y sin x − sin y = 2 sin x−y cos x+y





2 2 2 2

cos x + cos y = 2 cos x+y x−y x+y x−y

2
cos 2
cos x − cos y = −2 sin 2
sin 2

The Law of Sines

sin A sin B sin C
= =
a b c

Suppose you are given two sides, a, b and the angle A opposite the side A. The
height of the triangle is h = b sin A. Then

1. If a < h, then a is too short to form a triangle, so there is no solution.

2. If a = h, then there is one triangle.

3. If a > h and a < b, then there are two distinct triangles.

4. If a ≥ b, then there is one triangle.

The Law of Cosines

a2 = b2 + c2 − 2bc cos A b2 = a2 + c2 − 2ac cos B c2 = a2 + b2 − 2ab cos C