Since the remaining four trigonometric functions may be expressed as quotients involving sine, cosine, or both, we can use the quotient rule to find formulas for their derivatives.
The derivative of the tangent function
Find the derivative of
Start by expressing
as the quotient of
and
Now apply the quotient rule to obtain
Simplifying, we obtain
Recognizing that
by the Pythagorean theorem, we now have
The derivatives of the remaining trigonometric functions may be obtained by using similar techniques. We provide these formulas in the following theorem.
Derivatives of
And
The derivatives of the remaining trigonometric functions are as follows:
Finding the equation of a tangent line
Find the equation of a line tangent to the graph of
at
To find the equation of the tangent line, we need a point and a slope at that point. To find the point, compute
Thus the tangent line passes through the point
Next, find the slope by finding the derivative of
and evaluating it at
Using the point-slope equation of the line, we obtain
(mathematics) For a complex number a+bi, the principal square root of the sum of the squares of its real and imaginary parts, √a2+b2 . Denoted by | |.
The absolute value |x| of a real number x is √x2 , which is equal to x if x is non-negative, and −x if x is negative.