Trigonometric Functions: The Cosine

Christian Jelo R. Artoza

May 12, 2020

1 Discussion
We have discussed Taylor’s formula for the sine, and have learned a lot about it including the limit of the
expression cn /n! and the definition of accuracy which will be useful in this discussion about the cosine.

1.1 Taylor’s Formula for the Cosine

The process of constructing the polynomial for this function is just the same as how we did it for the sine.
In fact, it will be the same for any function we will encounter in the future.

Let f (x) = cos x, a = 0, and b = x in Theorem 1.1. So, the first thing to do is to find a general ex-
pression for f (n) (0), then the general expression for the coefficients, then finally constructing the formula.

1.1.1 The n-th Derivative of f(x)

We will begin with special cases. We have

f (0) (0) = cos 0 = 1 f (2) (0) = − cos 0 = −1

f (1) (0) = − sin 0 = 0 f (3) (0) = sin 0 = 0

So, this is quite similar to the n-th derivatves of the sine function. That is, the nth derivative of f (x) is
alternating sines and cosines but the difference is that when n is odd, the nth derivatives of f taken at
the point 0 is equal to zero, because sin 0 = 0; and when n is even, it’s either 1 or -1. Let n = 2m with
m = {0, 1, 2, 3, ...}, then we have the general expression,

f (2m) (0) = (−1)m

1.1.2 The Coefficient of the Taylor Polynomial

Since we have already settled the nth derivatives, this will be easy. No, long explanations and special cases
needed for this will be the almost the same as for the sine function. Let cn be the nth coefficient of the
Taylor polynomial for f . Then, we can express this as,

(−1)m
c2m =
2m!

1.1.3 Taylor’s Formula

We have everything to construct this formula. Following the assumptions above and using the expression
for the coefficient of the Taylor polynomial, we have, by Theorem 1.1, the formula

x2 x4 x6 x2m
cos x = 1 − + − + ... + (−1)m + R2m+1
2! 4! 6! 2m!

1
where,
x2m+1
R2m+1 = f (2m+1) (c)
(2m + 1)
for a number c between 0 and x. we will now be giving an estimate for this remainder term since it is
impossible to know what c is.

1.2 Estimate for the Remainder Term of the Cosine

This is basically the same way as we did for the sine. That is, we will use the second assertion of Theorem
2.1 and find Mn such that f (n+1) (x) ≤ Mn+1 . The n + 1-th derivstive of f (x) = cos x is either sinx or cos x,
and so
f (n+1) (x) ≤ 1.
Thus, we let Mn+1 = 1. Therefore, by the second assertion of Theorem 2.1, we have the estimate

2m+1
|x|
|R2m+1 | ≤
(2m + 1)!

Which is just the same estimate as what we have for the sine function.

1.3 EXAMPLE. Computing a definite integral

Let us compute the following definite integral with an accuracy of 10−2
Z 1
cos x − 1
dx
0 x
Now, you’ll probably be saying ”haha wtf this shit’s crazy why do we have to learn this if we have already
been taught the techniques of integration this is bs dude” again so shut up. Apparently some integrals
cannot be evaluated with those techniques alone. In this case, for instance, it is not yet been shown that
there exists an elementary function F(x) such that
cos x − 1
Z
F (x) = dx.
x
Think of elementary functions as the functions we have been dealing with sine we started learning them.
We are not yet dealing with the non-elementary ones but we are getting a sneak peak of it as we encounter
some problems which cannot be solved with the tools we were taught alone.

Not being able to solve the indefinite integral means we cannot completely evaluate the definite integral. We
can, however, approximate it. Hence, we use the Taylor polynomial. Let n = 4 in Taylor’s formula. Then,
5
x2 x4 |x|
cos x = 1 − + + R5 where |R5 | ≤ ,
2! 4! 5!
and so,

x3  R5  |x|4
 
cos x − 1 x R5
=− + + and  ≤ .
x 2! 4! x  x  5!

Hence,
1 1
cos x − 1 x3
Z Z
x R5
dx = + − + dx
0 x 0 2! 4! x
Z 1
1 1 R5
=− + + dx
2 · 2! 4 · 4! 0 x

2
where
Z 1  Z 1 4
 R5  |x| 1
 dx ≤ dx =

0 x 0 5! 5 · 5!
1
= · 10−2
6
≤ 10−2 .

our computation is within the desired bounds of accuracy! Our final answer is

1
cos x − 1
Z
1 1
dx = − + +E
0 x 4 96

with Z 1 
R5 
dx ≤ 10−2

|E| = 
0 x