Basic Trigonometry

Adenine#0225

§1 The Trigonometric ratios

The trigonometric ratios are defined for angles. In this handout, we will limit ourselves to acute angles.
There are three main trigonometric ratios and they have their corresponding reciprocal ratios. Please
note: In the following example, we have labelled the sides relative to ∠C If we calculate the t-ratios
for ∠B, AC, for example, will not be the Adjacent side as it is, on the contrary Opposite to ∠B. This
applies to all triangles. Looking at Figure 1, we can define the ratios to be
BA OppositeSide
sin C = =
BC Hypotenuse
AC AdjacentSide
cos C = =
BC Hypotenuse
BA
sin C BC BA OppositeSide
tan C = = AC
= =
cos C BC
AC AdjacentSide

These are the three main ratios. The other three are derived by taking the reciprocal of these three.
1
csc C =
sin C
1
sec C =
cos C
1
cot C =
tan C

Figure 1: A triangle 4ABC right-angled at A1

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Adenine#0225 () Basic Trigonometry

An important observation is:

cot θ × tan θ = sin θ × csc θ = cos θ × sec θ = 1

§2 Some Trigonometric identities

There are many trigonometric identities, however, we will discuss only 3. The following identities can
be easily derived using the Pythagorean theorem. We will prove only one identity, however, the other
identities have very very similar proofs.

§2.1 Identity involving sin and cos

Consider the triangle in Figure 2. By the Pythagorean theorem, we have

a2 + b 2 = c 2

Now we divide the whole equation by c2 so we will get

a2 b 2 c2
+ =
c2 c2 c2
a
The RHS simplifies to become 1 but the LHS has some familiar fractions. Notice that sin α = c
so
a2 2
c2
= sin2 α similarly, cb2 = cos2 α. If we substitute these values back into the equation, we get

sin2 α + cos2 α = 1

And we have arrived at our first identity. To prove the other identities, start out with the Pythagorean
theorem and divide by a leg (other than the hypotenuse, as we have used the hypotenuse to prove
the above identity) each time. We play around with the identity above to get cos2 α = 1 − sin2 α and
sin2 α = 1 − cos2 α

§2.2 Identity involving tan and sec

1 + tan2 α = sec2 α

Rearranging, we get sec2 α − tan2 α = 1 Now using the identity [a2 − b2 = (a + b)(a − b)], we can rewrite
the trig identity as
(sec α + tan α)(sec α − tan α) = 1
dividing both sides by (sec α + tan α) we get
1
sec α − tan α =
sec α + tan α
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Adenine#0225 () Basic Trigonometry

Rearranging the equation above gives us

1
sec θ + tan θ =
sec θ − tan θ
These two ’sub’-formulae are useful in problems where one is asked to prove a given trigonometric
expression

§2.3 Identity involving csc and cot

1 + cot2 θ = csc2 θ
We can use the same methods we applied to the second identity to get

csc2 θ − cot2 θ = 1
1
csc θ + cot θ =
csc θ − cot θ
1
csc θ − cot θ =
csc θ + cot θ

§3 Complementary angles

Figure 2: 4ABC right angled at C 2

Two angles are said to be complementary if their sum is 90◦ . We can say that α and β (looking at
Figure 2) are complementary angles as α + β = 90◦ (By Angle Sum Property of Triangles). We see that
if we compute sin α and cos β we get
a
sin α = = cos β
c
Similarly, we get
a
tan α = = cot β
b
and c
sec α = = csc β
b

We can frame general equations after this observation. For some angle θ, the following equations hold

sin (90 − θ) = cos θ

cos (90 − θ) = sin θ
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Adenine#0225 () Basic Trigonometry

sec (90 − θ) = csc θ

csc (90 − θ) = sec θ

tan (90 − θ) = cot θ

cot (90 − θ) = tan θ

§4 Values of T-ratios of some specific angles

Figure 3: The T-ratios for 0◦ , 30◦ , 45◦ , 60◦ , 90◦3

§5 Basic Applications
Trigonometry can be used to solve real-life problems. For example, say, we have a straight, rigid ladder
which makes an angle 35◦ with the ground at a point 12m away from the wall. What is the length of the
ladder? Firstly, we consider the fact that the wall and the ground are perpendicular, so any line segment
connecting the ground and the wall will form a right-angled triangle with the wall and ground. In this
problem, the ladder acts as the line segment that forms a right-angled triangle. A diagram should help
with this. Let us name the triangle. Let A be the meeting point of the wall and the ground. Obviously
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Adenine#0225 () Basic Trigonometry

∠A = 90◦ . Let the endpoints of the ladder be B (where it meets the wall) and C (where it meets the
ground). It is given that ∠C = 35◦ . Now we need to find a ratio which relates BC (the length of the
ladder) and AC (distance from wall). Tgis is

Figure 4: The triangle formed by the ladder, ground and wall.4

AC 12
cos 35◦ = =
BC BC
After rearranging, we get
BC = 12 sec 35◦
The value of sec 35◦ can be derived through calculations beyond the scope of this handout, however, one
can easily find its value with a simple search! sec 35◦ ≈ 1.74

12 sec 35◦ = 20.92 = BC

The same principles are used to solve other problems.

§6 Examples
Prove that √
sec2 θ + csc2 θ = tan θ + cot θ

Solution: We use the trig identities involving all 4 of the ratios in this problem (refer to Section 2).
Namely, sec2 θ = 1 + tan2 θ and csc2 θ = 1 + cot2 θ. We substitute this into the LHS to get
p
LHS = tan2 θ + 1 + cot2 θ + 1
√
LHS = tan2 θ + cot2 θ + 2 tan θ cot θ
We replaced 2 with 2 tan θ cot θ as tan θ cot θ = 1 so there is no change in the value of the expression.
p
LHS = (tan θ + cot θ)2

LHS = tan θ + cot θ = RHS

If α + β = 90◦ , Evaluate

tan α csc α sin2 β cos β cos α tan β sec3 α

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Adenine#0225 () Basic Trigonometry

Solution: The thing about these types of ’complex-looking’ problems is that, most of the time, you
will get a numerical answer independent of any trigonometric ratio. Keeping that in mind, we notice
complementary angles!! We will use the identities mentioned in Section 3 to solve this problem. We
will try to convert all the trigonometric ratios in terms of t-ratios of one angle. For this problem, let us
convert everything into a ratio involving α. So we will get
tan α csc α cos2 α sin α cos α cot α sec3 α
If we rearrange a bit, we get
tan α cot α csc α sin α cos3 α sec3 α
Notice how we can simplify it to 1 as reciprocal ratios are being multiplied here. So the answer is 1

Prove that    
2 sec θ − 1 2 2 sin θ − 1
cot θ + tan θ csc θ =0
sin θ + 1 sec θ + 1

Solution: We split this expression into two halves, solve them separately, then combine them. For the
first half, we see cot2 θ and sec θ − 1, so we try to generate tan2 θ to cancel cot2 θ as cot2 θ × tan2 θ = 1.
tan2 θ
And we can! Since sec2 θ − 1 = tan2 θ (check Section 2) we can write sec θ − 1 = sec θ+1
. Now, if we
substitute this value into the expression, we get
tan2 θ
" #
tan2 θ
 
2 sec θ+1 2
cot θ = cot θ
sin θ + 1 (1 + sec θ)(sin θ + 1)

Since cot2 θ × tan2 θ = 1, we can write it as

1
(1 + sec θ)(sin θ + 1)

Any further simplification would be a waste of time. So we move on to the second half
 
2 2 sin θ − 1
tan θ csc θ
sec θ + 1
Since sec 1θ+1 is common in both halves, we will leave it undisturbed (as we can factor it out later on). So
we focus on the other terms. We represent them in terms of sin and cos to help us simplify.
sin2 θ
   
1 sin θ − 1 1 sin θ − 1
× =
cos2 θ sin2 θ sec θ + 1 cos2 θ sec θ + 1
Now we add both the halves to get
 
1 1 sin θ − 1
+
(1 + sec θ)(sin θ + 1) cos2 θ sec θ + 1
Factoring the common term, we get
 
1 1 sin θ − 1
+
sec θ + 1 sin θ + 1 cos2 θ
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Adenine#0225 () Basic Trigonometry

Adding the fraction inside the square brackets, it becomes,

cos θ + sin2 θ − 1
 2 
1
sec θ + 1 (sin θ + 1) cos2 θ

Since sin2 θ + cos2 θ = 1, we get

 
1 1−1
LHS = = 0 = RHS
sec θ + 1 (sin θ + 1) cos2 θ

§7 Problems
§7.1 Prove the following
§7.1.1
1 + tan2 θ = sec2

§7.1.2
csc2 − cot2 = 1

§7.2 Find the values asked

§7.2.1
cos θ sin (90 − θ) + sin θ cos (90 − θ)

§7.2.2 If x = a sin θ and y = b cos θ, find

b2 x2 + a2 y 2 + 1
√
§7.2.3 If tan θ = 3, find the value of the value of

(sin θ + cos θ)2 − 2 sin θ cos θ

sec2 θ − 1

§7.2.4 If 5x = sec θ and 5

x = tan θ, then find the value of
 
2 1
5 x − 2
x

§7.2.5 Find the value of

cos2 θ
2 − tan2 θ csc4 θ cos2 θ
sin θ

§7.2.6 If tan θ + cot θ = 2 Find

tann+m θ + cotp+l
where (n + m) and (p + l) are real numbers
§7.2.7 If 3 cos θ = 2 sin θ Find
tan2 θ + cot2 θ + sec2 θ − 1