Sum and

Difference
Identities for
Cosine
 Consider the equation
cos      cos   cos 
Is this an identity? Remember an identity means the
equation is true for every value of the variable for which
it is defined.
Let’s try  = 30° and β = 45°
?
cos 30  45   cos 30  cos 45
cos 75  0.2588 cos 30  cos 45  1.573
So cos 30  45   cos 30  cos 45
This is NOT an identity and
DOES NOT WORK for all values!!!
Often you will have the cosine of the sum or difference
of two angles. We would like an identity to express
this in terms of products and sums of sines and
cosines. The proof of this identity is on Page 185-186
in your book. The identities are:

cos     cos cos   sin  sin 

cos     cos cos   sin  sin 
You will need to know these so say them in your
head when you write them like this, "The cosine of
the sum of 2 angles is cosine of the first, cosine of
the second minus sine of the first sine of the
second."
 Find the exact value of cos 105 . 

Since it says exact we want to use values we know from

our unit circle. 105° is not one there but can we take the
sum or difference of two angles from unit circle and get

  cos60 
105° ?   
cos 105  45
   
We can use the  cos 60 cos 45  sin 60 sin 45
sum formula and
get cosine of the 1 2 3 2
   
first, cosine of the 2 2 2 2
second minus
sine of the first, 2 6 2 6
sine of the   
second. 4 4 4
 The sum of all of the angles in a triangle always is 180°
What is the sum of  + ? 90°

Since we have a 90° angle, the sum of the other two angles
must also be 90° (since the sum of all three is 180°).
Two angles whose sum is
adjacent to 

 c
opposite 

90° are called

b complementary angles.

a  Since  and  are

adjacent to  complementary angles and
opposite  sin  = cos ,
a sine and cosine are called
What is sin  ? cofunctions.
c
a This is where we get the name
What is cos ? cosine, a cofunction of sine.
c
 Looking at the names of the other trig functions can
you guess which ones are cofunctions of each other?

secant and cosecant tangent and cotangent

Let's see if this is right. Does sec  = csc ?
hypotenuse over adjacent
hypotenuse over
adjacent to 

 c opposite
opposite 

c
b sec    csc 
 b
a
adjacent to  This whole idea of the
opposite  relationship between
cofunctions can be
stated as:

Cofunctions of complementary
angles are equal.
Cofunctions of complementary angles are equal.
cos 27° = sin(90° - 27°) = sin 63°
Using the theorem above, what trig function of
what angle does this equal?
     3 
tan  cot    cot 
8 2 8  8 
Let's try one in radians. What trig functions of
what angle does this equal?

The sum of complementary angles in radians is since
90° is the same as  2
2

Basically any trig function then equals 90° minus or 2
minus its cofunction.
Cofunction Identities
   
sin   u   cosu cos   u   sin u
2  2 
   
tan   u   cot u cot   u   tan u
2  2 
   
sec   u   cscu csc   u   secu
2  2 
 sin 36 sin 36
  tan 36
sin 54 cos 36

We can't use fundamental identities if the trig functions are

of different angles.

Use the cofunction theorem to change the denominator

to its cofunction

Now that the angles are the same we can use a trig
identity to simplify.