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Basis of trigonometry: if two right triangles have equal acute angles, they are similar, so their corresponding side lengths are proportional.. In mathematics, the trigonometric functions (also called circular functions, angle functions or goniometric functions) [1] are real functions which relate an angle of a right-angled triangle to ratios of two side lengths.
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.
In the 2nd century AD, the Greco-Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy (from Alexandria, Egypt) constructed detailed trigonometric tables (Ptolemy's table of chords) in Book 1, chapter 11 of his Almagest. [11] Ptolemy used chord length to define his trigonometric functions, a minor difference from the sine convention we use today. [12] (The value we call ...
In mathematics, sine and cosine are trigonometric functions of an angle.The sine and cosine of an acute angle are defined in the context of a right triangle: for the specified angle, its sine is the ratio of the length of the side that is opposite that angle to the length of the longest side of the triangle (the hypotenuse), and the cosine is the ratio of the length of the adjacent leg to that ...
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 ...
Since the trigonometric number is the average of the root of unity and its complex conjugate, and algebraic numbers are closed under arithmetic operations, every trigonometric number is algebraic. [2] The minimal polynomials of trigonometric numbers can be explicitly enumerated. [3] In contrast, by the Lindemann–Weierstrass theorem, the sine ...
[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
Similar right triangles illustrating the tangent and secant trigonometric functions Trigonometric functions and their reciprocals on the unit circle. The Pythagorean theorem applied to the blue triangle shows the identity 1 + cot 2 θ = csc 2 θ, and applied to the red triangle shows that 1 + tan 2 θ = sec 2 θ.