Trigonometry Formulas and Properties

Reciprocal Identities: Tangent and Cotangent Identities:

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

1 1
cos 𝜃 = sec 𝜃 =
sec 𝜃 cos 𝜃 Pythagorean Identities:
sin2 𝜃 + cos 2 𝜃 = 1
1 1
tan 𝜃 = cot 𝜃 = tan2 𝜃 + 1 = sec 2 𝜃
cot 𝜃 tan 𝜃
1 + cot 2 𝜃 = csc 2 𝜃

Even/Odd Formulas: Cofunction Formulas:

𝜋 𝜋 𝜋
sin(−𝜃) = − sin 𝜃 cos(−𝜃) = cos 𝜃 tan(−𝜃) = − tan 𝜃 sin ( − 𝜃) = cos 𝜃 csc ( − 𝜃) = sec 𝜃 tan ( − 𝜃) = cot 𝜃
2 2 2
𝜋 𝜋 𝜋
csc(−𝜃) = − csc 𝜃 sec(−𝜃) = sec 𝜃 cot(−𝜃) = − cot 𝜃 cos ( − 𝜃) = sin 𝜃 sec ( − 𝜃) = csc 𝜃 cot ( − 𝜃) = tan 𝜃
2 2 2

Product to Sum Formulas: Sum to Product Formulas:

1 𝛼+𝛽 𝛼−𝛽
sin 𝛼 sin 𝛽 = [cos(𝛼 − 𝛽) − cos(𝛼 + 𝛽)] sin 𝛼 + sin 𝛽 = 2 sin ( ) cos ( )
2 2 2
1 𝛼+𝛽 𝛼−𝛽
cos 𝛼 cos 𝛽 = [cos(𝛼 − 𝛽) + cos(𝛼 + 𝛽)] sin 𝛼 − sin 𝛽 = 2 cos ( ) sin ( )
2 2 2
1 𝛼+𝛽 𝛼−𝛽
sin 𝛼 cos 𝛽 = [sin(𝛼 + 𝛽) + sin(𝛼 − 𝛽)] cos 𝛼 + cos 𝛽 = 2 cos ( ) cos ( )
2 2 2
1
cos 𝛼 sin 𝛽 = [sin(𝛼 + 𝛽) − sin(𝛼 − 𝛽)] 𝛼+𝛽 𝛼−𝛽
2 cos 𝛼 − cos 𝛽 = −2 sin ( ) sin ( )
2 2

Sum and Difference Formulas Half-Angle Formulas: Double Angle Formulas:

sin(𝛼 ± 𝛽) = sin 𝛼 cos 𝛽 ± sin 𝛽 cos 𝛼 𝜃 1 − cos 𝜃 sin(2𝜃) = 2 sin 𝜃 cos 𝜃
sin ( ) = ±√
2 2
cos(𝛼 ± 𝛽) = cos 𝛼 cos 𝛽 ∓ sin 𝛼 sin 𝛽
cos(2𝜃) = cos2 𝜃 −sin2 𝜃
tan 𝛼 ± tan 𝛽 𝜃 1 + cos 𝜃
tan(𝛼 ± 𝛽) = cos ( ) = ±√ = 2 cos2 𝜃 − 1
1 ∓ tan 𝛼 tan 𝛽 2 2
= 1 − 2 sin2 𝜃
Periodic Formulas 𝜃 1 − cos 𝜃
tan ( ) = ±√
sin(𝜃 + 2𝜋𝑛) = sin 𝜃 csc(𝜃 + 2𝜋𝑛) = csc 𝜃 2 1 + cos 𝜃 2tan 𝜃
tan 2𝜃 =
1 − tan2 𝜃
cos(𝜃 + 2𝜋𝑛) = cos 𝜃 sec(𝜃 + 2𝜋𝑛) = sec 𝜃
tan(𝜃 + 𝜋𝑛) = tan 𝜃 cot(𝜃 + 𝜋𝑛) = cot 𝜃

Updated: March 2022

Trigonometric Functions:
Right Triangle: Unit Circle: y

hypotenuse (𝑥, 𝑦)

opposite r θ
x

adjacent

opposite hypotnuse
sin θ = csc θ = 𝑦 𝑟
hypotnuse opposite sin 𝜃 = csc 𝜃 =
𝑟 𝑦
adjacent hypotnuse
cos θ = sec θ = 𝑥 𝑟
hypotnuse adjacent cos 𝜃 = sec 𝜃 =
𝑟 𝑥
opposite adjacent 𝑦 𝑥
tan θ = cot θ = tan 𝜃 = cot 𝜃 =
adjacent opposite
𝑥 𝑦

Inverse Trigonometric Functions

Definition: Alternative Definition:
−1
𝑦 = sin 𝑥 ⇔ 𝑥 = sin 𝑦 sin−1 𝑥 =arcsin 𝑥
same as

𝑦 = cos −1 𝑥 ⇔ 𝑥 = cos 𝑦 cos−1 𝑥 =arccos 𝑥

same as

tan−1 𝑥 =arctan 𝑥
Law of Sines:
sin 𝛼
=
sin 𝛽
=
sin 𝛾 𝑦 = tan−1 𝑥 ⇔ 𝑥 = tan 𝑦
𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑠
𝑎 𝑏 𝑐

Domain and Range:

Law of Cosines:
𝑎2 = 𝑏 2 + 𝑐 2 − 2𝑏𝑐 cos 𝛼 Function Domain Range
𝜋 𝜋
𝑦 = sin−1 𝑥 −1 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 1 − ≤𝑦≤
𝑏 2 = 𝑎2 + 𝑐 2 − 2𝑎𝑐 cos 𝛽 2 2

𝑦 = cos −1 𝑥 −1 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 1 0≤𝑦≤𝜋
2 2 2
𝑐 = 𝑎 + 𝑏 − 2𝑎𝑏 cos 𝛾 𝜋 𝜋
𝑦 = tan−1 𝑥 −∞ ≤ 𝑥 ≤ ∞ − <𝑦<
2 2

Law of Tangents: 𝑦 = cot −1 𝑥 −∞ ≤ 𝑥 ≤ ∞ 0≤𝑦≤𝜋

1
𝑎 − 𝑏 tan 2 (𝛼 − 𝛽) 𝜋 𝜋
= 𝑦 = sec −1 𝑥 𝑥 ≤ −1, 𝑥 ≥ 1 0≤𝑦< , <𝑦≤𝜋
𝑎 + 𝑏 tan 1 (𝛼 + 𝛽) 2 2
2
𝜋 𝜋
1 𝑦 = csc −1 𝑥 𝑥 ≤ −1, 𝑥 ≥ 1 − ≤ 𝑦 < 0 ,0 < 𝑦 ≤
𝑏 − 𝑐 tan 2 (𝛽 − 𝛾) 2 2
=
𝑏 + 𝑐 tan 1 (𝛽 + 𝛾)
2
1
𝑎 − 𝑐 tan 2 (𝛼 − 𝛾) Inverse Properties:
=
𝑎 + 𝑐 tan 1 (𝛼 + 𝛾)
2 sin (sin−1 (𝑥)) = 𝑥 sin−1 (sin(𝜃)) = 𝜃

cos (cos−1 (𝑥)) = 𝑥 cos −1 (cos(𝜃)) = 𝜃

tan (tan−1 (𝑥)) = 𝑥 tan−1 (tan(𝜃)) = 𝜃

Updated: March 2022