If the two equal sides are of length
, then the hypotenuse,
, can be calculated as:
So, we have:
We can try something similar for
and
. We start with an equilateral triangle and we bisect one angle as shown in
[link] . This gives us the right-angled triangle that we need, with one angle of
and one angle of
.
If the equal sides are of length
, then the base is
and the length of the vertical side,
, can be calculated as:
So, we have:
You do not have to memorise these identities if you know how to work them out.
Two useful triangles to remember
Alternate definition for
We know that
is defined as:
This can be written as:
But, we also know that
is defined as:
and that
is defined as:
Therefore, we can write
can also be defined as:
A trigonometric identity
One of the most useful results of the trigonometric functions is that they are related to each other. We have seen that
can be written in terms of
and
. Similarly, we shall show that:
We shall start by considering
,
We see that:
and
We also know from the Theorem of Pythagoras that:
So we can write:
Simplify using identities:
Prove:
Trigonometric identities
Simplify the following using the fundamental trigonometric identities:
Prove the following:
Reduction formula
Any trigonometric function whose argument is
,
,
and
(hence
) can be written simply in terms of
. For example, you may have noticed that the cosine graph is identical to the sine graph except for a phase shift of
. From this we may expect that
.
Function values of
Investigation : reduction formulae for function values of
Function Values of
In the figure P and P' lie on the circle with radius 2. OP makes an angle
with the
-axis. P thus has coordinates
. If P' is the reflection of P about the
-axis (or the line
), use symmetry to write down the coordinates of P'.
Write down values for
,
and
.
Using the coordinates for P' determine
,
and
.
From your results try and determine a relationship between the function values of
and
.
Function values of
In the figure P and P' lie on the circle with radius 2. OP makes an angle
with the
-axis. P thus has coordinates
. P' is the inversion of P through the origin (reflection about both the
- and
-axes) and lies at an angle of
with the
-axis. Write down the coordinates of P'.
Using the coordinates for P' determine
,
and
.
From your results try and determine a relationship between the function values of
and
.