Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions

Botswana International University of Science and Technology

May 24, 2019

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Overview

1 Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions

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Limits of Trigonometric Functions
sin θ
Limits Involving θ
sin θ
A central fact about is that in radian measure its limit as θ → 0 is 1. We
θ
can see this in the following figure:
y = sinθ θ
1 y

0.5

θ
−30 −20 −10 10 20 30

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Remark
The graph of f (θ ) = sinθ θ suggests that the right-hand and left-hand limits as θ
approaches 0 are both 1. That is

sin θ sin θ
lim = 1 = lim
θ →0+ θ θ →0− θ

implying that
sin θ
lim = 1.
θ →0 θ

Example
Show that the
sin 3x 3 cos h − 1
(a) lim = (b) lim = 0.
x →0 5x 5 h →0 h

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Solution
(a)
3
sin 3x 5 sin 3x
lim = lim
x →0 5x x →0 3 · 5x
5
3 sin 3x
= lim
5 x →0 3x
3 3
= (1) = .
5 5

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Solution
(b) Using the half angle formula cos h = 1 − 2 sin2 h2 , we

calculate
1 − 2 sin2 h2 − 1


cos h − 1
lim = lim
h →0 h h →0 h
sin2 h2


= −2 lim
h →0 h
sin h2

 
h
= −2 lim sin
h →0 h 2
h


sin 2 h
= −2 lim · lim sin
h →0 h h →0 2
sin h2

h
= −2 lim · lim sin
h →0 2 · h h →0 2
2
= (−1)(sin 0) = (−1)(0) = 0.

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Example
tan t sec 2t
Find lim .
t →0 3t
Solution:

sin t
tan t sec 2t 1 · 1
lim = lim cos t cos 2t
t →0 3t 3 t →0 3t
1 sin t 1 1
= lim · ·
3 t →0 t cos t cos 2t
1 sin t 1 1
= lim · lim · lim
3 t →0 t t →0 cos t t →0 cos 2t
1 1
= (1)(1)(1) = .
3 3

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Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions

Derivative of the Sine Function

To calculate the derivative of f (x ) = sin x, for x measured in radians, we
recall the following
sin x
lim = 1,
x →0 x
cos x − 1
lim =0
x →0 x
and the angle sum identity

sin(x + h ) = sin x cos h + cos x sin h.

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Calculations
Thus, if f (x ) = sin x, then

f (x + h ) − f (x ) sin(x + h ) − sin(x )
f 0 (x ) = lim = lim
h →0 h h →0 h
(sin x cos h + cos x sin h) − sin(x )
= lim
h →0 h
sin x (cos h − 1) + cos x sin h
= lim
h →0 h
(cos h − 1) sin h
= lim sin x · + lim cos x ·
h →0 h h →0 h
(cos h − 1) sin h
= sin x lim + cos x lim
h →0 h h →0 h
= sin x · 0 + cos x · 1 = cos x.

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Results
The derivative of a sine function is the cosine function:
d
(sin x ) = cos x.
dx

Example
We determine the derivatives of the sine function involving differences, products
and quotients.
(a) y = 5x 3 − 7 sin x: (Using Difference Rule)

dy d
= 15x 2 − 7 (sin x )
dx dx
= 15x 2 − 7 cos x.

(b) y = 5x 3 sin x: (Using Product Rule)

dy d
= 15x 2 sin x + 5x 3 (sin x )
dx dx
= 15x 2 sin x + 5x 3 cos x.
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Example
sin x
(c) y = : (Using Quotient Rule)
x2
d
dy x 2 dx (sin x ) − 2x sin x
=
dx x4
2
x cos x − 2x sin x
=
x4
x (cos x − 2 sin x )
=
x4
cos x − 2 sin x
= .
x3

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Derivative of the Cosine Function
The angle sum formula for cosine function is

cos(x + h ) = cos x cos h − sin x sin h.

We compute the limit of the difference quotient

d cos(x + h ) − cos(x )
(cos x ) = lim
dx h →0 h
(cos x cos h − sin x sin h) − cos(x )
= lim
h →0 h
cos x (cos h − 1) − sin x sin h
= lim
h →0 h
cos h − 1 sin h
= cos x · lim − sin x · lim
h →0 h h →0 h
= cos x · 0 − sin x · 1 = − sin x.

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Results
The derivative of a cosine function is the negative of the sine function:
d
(cos x ) = − sin x.
dx

Example
We determine the derivatives of the cosine function involving sums, products and
quotients.
(a) y = x 3 + cos x: (Using Sum Rule)

dy d
= 3x 2 + (cos x )
dx dx
= 3x 2 − sin x.

(b) y = 9 cos x sin x: (Using Product Rule)

dy d d
= sin x (cos x ) + cos x (sin x )
dx dx dx
= sin x · (− sin x ) + cos x cos x = cos2 x − sin2 x.
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Example
cos x
(c) y = : (Using Quotient Rule)
3 − sin x
d d
dy (3 − sin x ) dx (cos x ) − cos x dx (3 − sin x )
= 2
dx (1 − sin x )
(3 − sin x )(− sin x ) − cos x (− cos x )
=
(3 − sin x )2
−3 sin x + sin2 x + cos2 x
=
(3 − sin x )2
1 − 3 sin x
= .
(3 − sin x )2

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Derivatives of Other Basic Trigonometric Functions

Since sin x and cos x are differentiable functions of x, the related functions
sin x cos x 1 1
tan x = , cot x = , sec x = and csc x =
cos x sin x cos x sin x
are differentiable at every value of x at which they are defined.
Results
The derivatives of other trigonometric functions:
d d
(tan x ) = sec2 x (cot x ) = − csc2 x.
dx dx
d d
(sec x ) = sec x tan x (csc x ) = − csc x cot x.
dx dx

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