AQA Core 4 Trigonometry

Section 1: Trigonometric identities and equations

Notes and Examples
These notes contain subsections on
The compound angle formulae
The double angle formulae
Using trigonometric identities in integration

The compound angle formulae

Some useful identities are the compound angle formulae:
Remember tan
is undefined for
these values.

sin( A B) sin A cos B cos A sin B

sin( A B) sin A cos B cos A sin B
cos( A B) cos A cos B sin A sin B
cos( A B) cos A cos B sin A sin B
tan A tan B
tan( A B)
( A B ) 90, 270,...
1 tan A tan B
tan A tan B
tan( A B)
( A B) 90, 270,...
1 tan A tan B

You can use the Geogebra resource The compound angle formulae to see a
geometrical proof of the formulae for sin (A + B) and cos (A + B). The Mathcentre
video The compound angle formulae also shows the geometrical derivation of
the formulae, and gives some applications.

Example 1
Write cos 75 as a surd.
Solution
cos 75 cos(45 30)
Using the compound-angle formula cos( A B) cos A cos B sin A sin B we have:
cos(45 30) cos 45 cos 30 sin 45 sin 30

1
3 1 1

2 2
2 2
3
1
3 1

2 2 2 2
2 2

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cos 45

1
2

sin 45

cos30

3
2

sin 30

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AQA C4 Trigonometry 1 Notes and Examples

The compound angle formulae can also be used to solve equations.

Example 2
Solve sin(60 ) cos for 0 360

Use the compound-angle formula

sin( A B) sin A cos B cos A sin B

Solution

sin(60 ) cos
sin 60 cos cos 60 sin cos
3
1
cos sin cos
2
2
Rearrange to collect like terms:
Factorise the LHS:

Now you can divide by cos :

Make tan the subject:

So

165 or 345

Remember you can only solve an

equation which has either tan ,
cos or sin as the subject.

3
1
cos cos sin
2
2
3
1
1 cos sin

2
2

3
1 sin
1
2
2 cos
3
tan 2
1
2

Whenever you have an

equation which is a mixture
of sines and cosines see if
you can use the identity

tan

sin
cos

15

To find all the solutions in range you

need to add on multiples of 180.

The double angle formulae

In the case where A = B, the compound angle formulae become the double angle
formulae.

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AQA C4 Trigonometry 1 Notes and Examples

These three expressions for
cos 2A are all equivalent

sin 2 A 2sin A cos A

cos 2 A cos 2 A sin 2 A
1 2sin 2 A
2 cos 2 A 1
2 tan A
tan 2 A
A 45,135,...
1 tan 2 A

Remember tan 2A
is undefined for
these values.

You can use the Geogebra resource The double angle formulae to see a
geometrical proof of the formulae for sin 2A and cos 2A. The Mathcentre video
The double angle formulae looks at the derivation and use of the formulae.

Example 3
Use the double angle identities to show that

sin 2
tan 2 .
cos 2

Solution
You are aiming for:

tan 2

2 tan
1 tan 2

Only work with one side of

the identity.

Working with the LHS:

sin 2
2sin cos

cos 2 cos 2 sin 2

2sin cos

In order to get 1 tan in the

denominator, divide both the numerator
2

and the denominator by

cos 2

cos 2 sin 2

2
cos 2 cos
2sin
cos 2
sin
1
cos 2
2 tan

1 tan 2
tan 2
So

cos2 :

Remember so long as you

multiply both the top and the
bottom of a fraction by the
same thing you dont change it.

sin 2
tan 2 as required.
cos 2

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AQA C4 Trigonometry 1 Notes and Examples

In this example you need to use a double-angle formula to solve an equation
giving your answer in radians.
Look to see which of the three formula
for cos 2 is best. This one means that
you end up with an equation just in
terms of cos .

Example 4
Solve cos 2 2 5cos for 0 2
Solution
Use the double-angle identity cos 2 A 2cos2 A 1
Substituting:
2cos2 1 2 5cos
2cos2 3 5cos
Rearranging:
Factorising:

2cos2 5cos 3 0
(2cos 1)(cos 3) 0
cos 12 or cos 3
2
4
or
cos 12
3
3

This is a quadratic in
cos .

cos 3 has no solutions

The second solution is
found by subtracting
from 2 .

For practice in using the compound angle formulae and the double angle
formulae, try the Trigonometric identities puzzle 2.

Using trigonometric identities

Some expressions involving trigonometric functions cannot be integrated directly,
but can be rewritten using a trigonometric identity, to give an expression which
can be integrated.
The main ones that you should recognise are as follows:

You can integrate tan x and cot x using the identities 1 tan 2 x sec2 x and
1 cot 2 x cosec2 x respectively, since both sec x and cosec x can be
integrated using standard results.

You can integrate sin x and cos x using different forms of the double angle
formula: cos 2 x 2cos 2 x 1

1 2sin 2 x

Look out for expressions like sin x cos x . You can use the double angle
formula sin 2 x 2sin x cos x here.

Also look out for any way in which you can simplify the expression.
Sometimes, if you have an expression involving products of sec x,
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AQA C4 Trigonometry 1 Notes and Examples

cosec x, tan x or cot x, then writing everything in terms of sin x and cos x may
result in some cancelling down being possible, which could leave you with
an expression which can easily be integrated.

Remember that you may need to apply these identities to different multiples of x.
For example, if you want to integrate cos 2x, you would need to replace x by 2x in
the formula cos 2 x 2cos2 x 1 , giving cos 4 x 2cos2 2 x 1 which you can then
rearrange to give an expression for cos 2x.

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