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The secant lines PQ are the approximations to the tangent line. In calculus, this idea is the geometric definition of the derivative. The tangent line at point P is a secant line of the curve. A tangent line to a curve at a point P may be a secant line to that curve if it intersects the curve in at least one point other than P.
Here, the poles are the numbers of the form (+) for the tangent and the secant, or for the cotangent and the cosecant, where k is an arbitrary integer. Recurrences relations may also be computed for the coefficients of the Taylor series of the other trigonometric functions.
The reciprocal identities arise as ratios of sides in the triangles where this unit line is no longer the hypotenuse. The triangle shaded blue illustrates the identity 1 + cot 2 θ = csc 2 θ {\displaystyle 1+\cot ^{2}\theta =\csc ^{2}\theta } , and the red triangle shows that tan 2 θ + 1 = sec 2 θ {\displaystyle \tan ^{2 ...
The cosine, cotangent, and cosecant are so named because they are respectively the sine, tangent, and secant of the complementary angle abbreviated to "co-". [32] With these functions, one can answer virtually all questions about arbitrary triangles by using the law of sines and the law of cosines. [33]
The hexagonal chart can be constructed with a little thought: [10] Draw three triangles pointing down, touching at a single point. This resembles a fallout shelter trefoil. Write a 1 in the middle where the three triangles touch; Write the functions without "co" on the three left outer vertices (from top to bottom: sine, tangent, secant)
Let PQ be a line perpendicular to line OQ defined by angle , drawn from point Q on this line to point P. OQP is a right angle. Let QA be a perpendicular from point A on the x -axis to Q and PB be a perpendicular from point B on the x -axis to P. ∴ {\displaystyle \therefore } OAQ and OBP are right angles.
The geometrical idea of the tangent line as the limit of secant lines serves as the motivation for analytical methods that are used to find tangent lines explicitly. The question of finding the tangent line to a graph, or the tangent line problem, was one of the central questions leading to the development of calculus in the 17th century.
In this way, this trigonometric identity involving the tangent and the secant follows from the Pythagorean theorem. The angle opposite the leg of length 1 (this angle can be labeled φ = π/2 − θ) has cotangent equal to the length of the other leg, and cosecant equal to the length of the hypotenuse. In that way, this trigonometric identity ...