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Trigonometric Identities
In mathematics, an "identity" is an equation which is always true. These can be "trivially" true, like "x = x" or
usefully true, such as the Pythagorean Theorem's "a2 + b2 = c2" for right triangles. There are loads of
trigonometric identities, but the following are the ones you're most likely to see and use.
Basic & Pythagorean, Angle-Sum & -Difference, Double-Angle, Half-Angle, Sum, Product
The following (particularly the first of the three below) are called "Pythagorean" identities.
sin2(t) + cos2(t) = 1
tan2(t) + 1 = sec2(t)
/
1 + cot2(t) = csc2(t)
Note that the three identities above all involve squaring and the number 1. You can see the Pythagorean-
Thereom relationship clearly if you consider the unit circle (unitcirc.htm), where the angle is t, the "opposite"
side is sin(t) = y, the "adjacent" side is cos(t) = x, and the hypotenuse is 1.
We have additional identities related to the functional status of the trig ratios:
sin(–t) = –sin(t)
cos(–t) = cos(t)
tan(–t) = –tan(t)
Notice in particular that sine and tangent are odd functions (fcnnot3.htm), being symmetric about the origin,
while cosine is an even function (fcnnot3.htm), being symmetric about the y-axis. The fact that you can take
the argument's "minus" sign outside (for sine and tangent) or eliminate it entirely (for cosine) can be helpful
when working with complicated expressions.
tan(α) + tan(β)
tan(α + β) =
1 − tan(α) tan(β)
tan(α) − tan(β)
tan(α − β) =
1 + tan(α) tan(β)
By the way, in the above identities, the angles are denoted by Greek letters (grklttrs.htm). The a-type letter,
"α", is called "alpha", which is pronounced "AL-fuh". The b-type letter, "β", is called "beta", which is
pronounced "BAY-tuh".
Double-Angle Identities
2 tan(x)
tan(2x) =
1 − tan2 (x)
/
Half-Angle Identities
x 1 − cos(x)
sin ( ) = ±
2 2
x 1 + cos(x)
cos ( ) = ±
2 2
x 1 − cos(x)
tan ( ) = ±
2 1 + cos(x)
1 − cos(x)
=
sin(x)
sin(x)
=
1 + cos(x)
The above identities can be re-stated by squaring each side and doubling all of the angle measures. The
results are as follows:
1 − cos(2x)
tan2 (x) =
1 + cos(2x)
Sum Identities
x+y x−y
sin(x) + sin(y) = 2 sin ( ) cos ( )
2 2
x+y x−y
sin(x) − sin(y) = 2 cos ( ) sin ( )
2 2
x+y x−y
cos(x) + cos(y) = 2 cos ( ) cos ( )
2 2
x+y x−y
cos(x) − cos(y) = −2 sin ( ) sin ( )
2 2
Product Identities
/
cos(x) sin(y) = 12 [ sin(x + y) − sin(x − y)]
URL: https://www.purplemath.com/modules/idents.htm
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