PHY1106: Waves and Oscillators: Dr.

Pete Vukusic

Differentiating sine / cosine

The sine / cosine functions differentiate using standard sets of rules:

d d
(sin t ) = cos t (cos t ) = − sin t
dt dt

d d
( − sin t ) = − cos t ( − cos t ) = sin t
dt dt

Slightly more complicated is sin (ωt) or sin (ωt + φ) etc. In these cases the
expression within the sine or cosine is itself differentiated w.r.t the variable “t”, in
addition to the sin or cos function itself: these are then multiplied together.

d d d
( A sin ωt ) = ωA cos ωt and ( A cos ωt ) = −ωA sin ωt since (ωt ) = ω
dt dt dt

For a further example, if the sin / cos function is now a more complicated function of
t say, notice how we still differentiate it (as well as the sin / cos itself) ; e.g. for sin
(kt2) and cos (kt3) etc.

d
dt
[ ]
sin(kt 2 ) = 2kt. cos(kt 2 ) and
d
dt
[ ]
cos(kt 3 ) = −3kt 2 . sin kt 3

If the function has two variables in it, (as with some of the functions in our lecture
course, e.g. y = y 0 sin(ωt − kx ) ), then the differentiation works in the same way;

d d
( y ) = ωy 0 cos(ωt − kx ) and ( y ) = −ky 0 cos(ωt − kx )
dt dx

d df dg
In general: [f(g(x))] = ×
dx dx dx
This means we differentiate the outside function, leave the argument of the
outside function alone, and then multiply by the derivative of the inside function.
For example;
d df dg
[cos(3x 2 + 1)] = × = − sin(3x 2 + 1) × 6 x = −6 x. sin(3x 2 + 1)
dx dx dx
Practice Problems:
Complete the following (see PV or your tutor for solutions):

d
[Aω sin(ωt )] =
dt

d
[A cos(ωt − kx )] =
dx

d
[Aω cos(ωt − kx )] =
dt

d  − A cos(ωt − kx ) 
dt  ω  =


d  c. sin(ka / 2 ) 
  =
dk  (a / 2) 