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A modest extension of the version of de Moivre's formula given in this article can be used to find the n-th roots of a complex number for a non-zero integer n. (This is equivalent to raising to a power of 1 / n). If z is a complex number, written in polar form as = ( + ),
These identities are useful whenever expressions involving trigonometric functions need to be simplified. An important application is the integration of non-trigonometric functions: a common technique involves first using the substitution rule with a trigonometric function, and then simplifying the resulting integral with a trigonometric identity.
The trigonometric functions of angles that are multiples of 15°, 18°, or 22.5° have simple algebraic values. These values are listed in the following table for angles from 0° to 45°. [ 1 ] In the table below, the label "Undefined" represents a ratio 1 : 0. {\displaystyle 1:0.}
The six trigonometric functions are defined for every real number, except, for some of them, for angles that differ from 0 by a multiple of the right angle (90°). Referring to the diagram at the right, the six trigonometric functions of θ are, for angles smaller than the right angle:
That cos nx is an n th-degree polynomial in cos x can be seen by observing that cos nx is the real part of one side of de Moivre's formula: + = ( + ). The real part of the other side is a polynomial in cos x and sin x , in which all powers of sin x are even and thus replaceable through the identity cos 2 x + sin 2 x = 1 .
In the above formula in terms of exponential and trigonometric functions, the primitive n th roots of unity are those for which k and n are coprime integers. Subsequent sections of this article will comply with complex roots of unity. For the case of roots of unity in fields of nonzero characteristic, see Finite field § Roots of unity.
Trigonometric functions of angles that are rational multiples of 2π are algebraic numbers. The values for a/b·2π can be found by applying de Moivre's identity for n = a to a b th root of unity, which is also a root of the polynomial x b - 1 in the complex plane.
Abraham de Moivre was born in Vitry-le-François in Champagne on 26 May 1667. His father, Daniel de Moivre, was a surgeon who believed in the value of education. Though Abraham de Moivre's parents were Protestant, he first attended the Christian Brothers' Catholic school in Vitry, which was unusually tolerant given religious tensions in France at the time.