Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions

The basic trigonometric limit:

sin x
x
lim
= 1 = lim
Theorem:
x0
x 0 sin x
x

(x in radians)

Note: In calculus, unless otherwise noted, all angles are measured in

radians, and not in degrees.
This theorem is sometimes referred to as the small-angle approximation
because it really says that, for very small angles x, sin x x.

cos x = 1 .
Note: Cosine behaves even better near 0, where lim
x 0

ex. Show that lim

x 0

cos x 1
=0
x

sin 2 x
cos 2 x 1
cos x 1
cos x 1 cos x + 1
= lim
= lim
lim
= lim

x 0
x 0
x
x
cos x + 1 x0 x(cos x + 1) x0 x(cos x + 1)
= lim
x0

sin x
sin x
sin x
sin x
0
lim
= lim
lim
= (1)
= 0
x 0 cos x + 1
x 0
x
x x0 cos x + 1
1 +1

ex. Evaluate lim

x0

lim
x0

sin 2 x
5x

sin 2 x 1
sin 2 x 2 2
sin 2 x
= lim
= lim
5x
5 x 0 x
2 5 x 0 2 x

The idea above is to match the angle in the sine function with the
denominator. Well then apply the basic trigonometric limit. To do so, first
we substitute = 2x. Note that as x approaches 0, so does . Hence,

2
sin 2 x 2
sin 2
2
lim
= lim
= 1 =
5 x 0 2 x
5 0
5
5

ex. Evaluate lim

x0

lim
x0

sin 4 x
sin 3 x

sin 4 x
sin 4 x
sin 4 x x
sin 4 x
x
x
= lim
= lim

= lim
lim
x 0 sin 3 x
sin 3 x x0 sin 3 x x x0 x
sin 3 x x0 x

Repeat the same trick as in the previous example, let = 4x and = 3x.
Both and approach 0 when x does. Then apply the theorem twice.

= lim
x 0

sin 4 x 4
x
3 4
sin 4 x
3x
lim
= lim
lim
x
4 x0 sin 3 x 3 3 x0 4 x x0 sin 3 x

sin
4

4
4
lim
lim
= 11 =
0 sin
3 0
3
3

In fact, after doing a few examples like those, we can see a (very nice)
pattern. To sum it up:
Suppose m and n are nonzero real numbers, then

lim

sin mx m
=
nx
n

lim

mx
m
=
sin nx n

lim

sin mx m
=
sin nx
n

x0

x 0

x 0

(Trivially, we also have:

lim
x 0

mx m
= .)
nx
n

ex. Evaluate lim

x0

lim
x0

tan 7 x
2x

tan 7 x
1 sin 7 x 1
sin 7 x
1
1
sin 7 x
1
= lim

= lim

= lim
lim
x 0 2 x cos 7 x
x 0 cos x
2x
2 x 0 x
cos x 2 x0 x

1 7 1 7
=
2 1 1 2
Recall that since cos x is continuous everywhere, the direct
substitution property applies, therefore,

1
1
1
1
=
=
= =1
x 0 cos x
lim cos x cos 0 1

lim

x 0

Now, the main topic -Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions

ex. What is the derivative of sin x?
Start with the limit definition of derivative:
d
sin( x + h) sin x
[sin x cos h + sin h cos x] sin x
= lim
sin x = lim
h 0
h 0
dx
h
h

= lim
h 0

sin x cos h sin x

sin h cos x
sin x(cos h 1)
sin h
+ lim
= lim
+ lim
cos x
h 0
h 0
h 0
h
h
h
h

= lim sin x lim

h 0

Therefore,

h 0

cos h 1
sin h
+ lim
lim cos x = sin x (0) + (1) cos x = cos x
h 0
h
h h0

d
sin x = cos x
dx

ex. Find the derivative of csc x.

d d
sin x 1 1 sin x
d 1
d
= sin x 0 1 cos x
dx dx
csc x =
=
2
(sin x)
sin 2 x
dx sin x
dx
=

cos x
1 cos x
=

= csc x cot x
2
sin x
sin x sin x

Therefore,

d
csc x = csc x cot x
dx

The complete list of derivatives of trigonometric functions:

1.

d
sin x = cos x
dx

2.

d
cos x = sin x
dx

3.

d
tan x = sec 2 x
dx

4.

d
sec x = sec x tan x
dx

5.

d
cot x = csc 2 x
dx

6.

d
csc x = csc x cot x
dx

ex. Differentiate f (x) = sec x + 5 csc x

f (x) = sec x tan x + 5( csc x cot x) = sec x tan x 5 csc x cot x

ex. Differentiate f (x) = x2 cos x 2x sin x 3 cos x

f (x) = [x2(sin x) + (2x) cos x] 2[x (cos x) + (1)sin x] 3(sin x)
= x2 sin x + 2x cos x 2x cos x 2sin x + 3sin x
= x2 sin x + sin x

ex. Differentiate s (t ) =

s (t ) =

sin t
1 cos t

(1 cos t )(cos t ) (sin t )(0 ( sin t ))

(1 cos t ) 2

cos t cos 2 t sin 2 t cos t (cos 2 t + sin 2 t )

=
=
(1 cos t ) 2
(1 cos t ) 2
=

cos t 1
1
(1 cos t )
1
=
=
=
(1 cos t ) 2 (1 cos t ) 2 1 cos t cos t 1

ex. Simple Harmonic Motion Suppose the oscillating motion (in meters)
of a weight attached to a spring is described by the displacement function
s(t) = 2 cos t + sin t
Find its velocity and acceleration functions, and its speed and acceleration at
t = /2 sec.

Velocity: v(t) = s(t) = 2 sin t + cos t

Acceleration: a(t) = v(t) = 2 cos t sin t
Its speed when t = /2 is
v(/2) = 2 sin (/2) + cos (/2) = 2 + 0 = 2 (m/sec)
Its acceleration at the same time is
a(/2) = 2 cos (/2) sin (/2) = 0 1 = 1 (m/sec2)