BY: Wendy Castillo

1. Identity: a statement of equality between two

expressions that is true for all values of the
variable(s)
2. Trigonometric Identity: an identity involving trig
expressions
3. Counterexample: an example that shows an equation
is false.

u
u
u
u
u
u
cot
1
tan
sec
1
cos
csc
1
sin
=
=
=
u
u
u
u
u
u
tan
1
cot
cos
1
sec
sin
1
csc
=
=
=

u
u
u
u
u
u
sin
cos
cot
cos
sin
tan
=
=
u u
u u
u u
2 2
2 2
2 2
csc cot 1
sec tan 1
1 cos sin
= +
= +
= +
sin (/2 u) = cos u csc (/2 u) = sec
u

cos (/2 u) = sin u sec (/2 u) = csc
u

tan (/2 u) = cot u cot (/2 u) = tan
u
One use of trigonometric identities is to use given
values of trigonometric functions to evaluate other
trigonometric functions.
Given:
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
y
y
y y
y
y y
y
y
y
y
y
y
sin 1
cos
sin 1 cos
sin 1
sin 1 cos
sin 1
sin 1
sin 1
cos
sin 1
cos
2
2
2
2
2
2
+ =
+

+
+
+

QUOTIENT IDENTITIES
sin
tan
cos
x
x
x
=
cos
cot
sin
x
x
x
=
2 2
tan 1 sec x x + =
2 2
1 cot csc x x + =
PYTHAGOREAN IDENTITIES
2 2
sin cos 1 x x + =
RECIPROCAL IDENTITIES
1
csc
sin
x
x
=
1
sec
cos
x
x
=
1
cot
tan
x
x
=
1
sin
csc
x
x
=
1
cos
sec
x
x
=
1
tan
cot
x
x
=
( )
sin sin cos cos sin u v u v u v + = +
( )
cos cos cos sin sin u v u v u v + =
( )
sin sin cos cos sin u v u v u v =
( )
cos cos cos sin sin u v u v u v = +
( )
tan tan
tan
1 tan tan
u v
u v
u v

=
+
( )
tan tan
tan
1 tan tan
u v
u v
u v
+
+ =

( )
sin( )
tan
cos( )
u v
u v
u v

Simplify:

Factor

Substitute


Substitute


Multiply
x x x
2
cos csc csc
( ) x x
2
cos 1 csc
( ) x x
2
sin csc
( ) x
x
2
sin
sin
1
x sin
Treat the whole trig function like a variable:
Factor:

Substitute

Simplify

Factor
3 tan sec
2
x x
( ) 3 tan 1 tan
2
+ x x
2 tan tan
2
x x
( )( ) 1 tan 2 tan + x x
Sometimes its easier to write everything in terms of sine
and cosine:
Simplify:

Write as sin/cos

Mulitply

Add

Simplify
u u u sin tan cos +
u
u
u
u sin
cos
sin
cos +
u
u
u
cos
sin
cos
2
+
u
u u
cos
sin cos
2 2
+
u cos
1
u sec =
u
u
u
2
2
2
cos
csc
1 csc
=

( )
u
u
u
2
2
2
cos
csc
1 1 cot
=
+
u
u
u
2
2
2
cos
csc
cot
=
u u u
2 2 2
cos sin cot =
u u
u
u
2 2
2
2
cos sin
sin
cos
=
u u
2 2
cos cos =
Isolate the trig function



Use inverse function
0 1 cos 2 = x
1 cos 2 = x
2
1
cos = x
|
.
|

\
|
=

2
1
cos
1
x
3
t
= x
( ) = 30 45 cos 15 cos
30 sin 45 sin 30 cos 45 cos + =
2
1
2
2
2
3
2
2
+ =
4
2
4
6
+ =
4
2 6 +
=