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Trigonometric functions and their reciprocals on the unit circle. All of the right-angled triangles are similar, i.e. the ratios between their corresponding sides are the same. For sin, cos and tan the unit-length radius forms the hypotenuse of the triangle that defines them.
A trigonometric number is a number that can be expressed as the sine or cosine of a rational multiple of π radians. [2] Since sin ( x ) = cos ( x − π / 2 ) , {\displaystyle \sin(x)=\cos(x-\pi /2),} the case of a sine can be omitted from this definition.
The angle between the horizontal line and the shown diagonal is 1 / 2 (a + b). This is a geometric way to prove the particular tangent half-angle formula that says tan 1 / 2 (a + b) = (sin a + sin b) / (cos a + cos b). The formulae sin 1 / 2 (a + b) and cos 1 / 2 (a + b) are the ratios of the actual distances to ...
This geometric argument relies on definitions of arc length and area, which act as assumptions, so it is rather a condition imposed in construction of trigonometric functions than a provable property. [2] For the sine function, we can handle other values. If θ > π /2, then θ > 1. But sin θ ≤ 1 (because of the Pythagorean identity), so sin ...
The other four trigonometric functions (tan, cot, sec, csc) can be defined as quotients and reciprocals of sin and cos, except where zero occurs in the denominator. It can be proved, for real arguments, that these definitions coincide with elementary geometric definitions if the argument is regarded as an angle in radians. [ 5 ]
[1] [2] One reason for this is that they can greatly simplify differential equations that do not need to be answered with absolute precision. There are a number of ways to demonstrate the validity of the small-angle approximations. The most direct method is to truncate the Maclaurin series for each of the trigonometric functions.
The tangent of half an angle is important in spherical trigonometry and was sometimes known in the 17th century as the half tangent or semi-tangent. [2] Leonhard Euler used it to evaluate the integral ∫ d x / ( a + b cos x ) {\textstyle \int dx/(a+b\cos x)} in his 1768 integral calculus textbook , [ 3 ] and Adrien-Marie Legendre described ...
is the number of collisions made (in ideal conditions, perfectly elastic with no friction) by an object of mass m initially at rest between a fixed wall and another object of mass b 2N m, when struck by the other object. [1] (This gives the digits of π in base b up to N digits past the radix point.)