Arkansas Tech University

MATH 2914: Calculus I

Dr. Marcel B. Finan
19 Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions
The goal of this section is to nd the derivatives of the six trigonometric
functions.
We start by nding the derivative of y = sin x. For this purpose, we remind
the reader of the following trigonometric identity:
sin (x + h) = sin x cos h + cos x sin h.
Using the denition of derivative, the above identity and the fact that lim
h0
sin h
h
=
1, lim
h0
cos h1
h
= 0 we nd
y

= lim
h0
sin (x + h) sin x
h
= lim
h0
sin x cos h + cos x sin h sin x
h
= lim
h0
sin x(cos h 1) + cos x sin h
h
=sin x lim
h0
cos h 1
h
+ cos x lim
h0
sin h
h
= cos x.
Now, if y = sin u where u is a function of x then by the chain rule we have
d
dx
(sin u) = cos u
du
dx
.
As a result of this rule and the fact that cos x = sin

x +

2

and cos

x +

2

=
sin x we can obtain the derivative of cos x :
d
dx
(cos x) =
d
dx
sin

x +

2

= cos

x +

2

= sin x.
If u is a function of x then by the chain rule
d
dx
(cos u) = sin u
du
dx
.
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Example 19.1
Dierentiate: (a) 2 sin (3x) (b) cos (x
2
) (c) e
sin x
.
Solution.
(a)
d
dx
(2 sin (3x)) = 2 cos (3x)(3x)

= 6 cos (3x).
(b)
d
dx
(cos (x
2
)) = sin (x
2
)(x
2
)

= 2x sin (x
2
).
(c)
d
dx
(e
sin x
) = e
sin x
(sin x)

= cos xe
sin x
.
Example 19.2
(a) Use the quotient rule to nd the derivative of the function sec x =
1
cos x
.
Then use the chain rule to nd
d
dx
(sec u).
(b) Use the quotient rule to nd the derivative of the function csc x =
1
sin x
.
Then use the chain rule to nd
d
dx
(csc u).
(c) Use the quotient rule to nd the derivative of the function tan x =
sin x
cos x
.
Then use the chain rule to nd
d
dx
(tan u).
(d) Use the quotient rule to nd the derivative of the function cot x =
1
tan x
.
Then use the chain rule to nd
d
dx
(cot u).
Solution.
(a) Since sec x =
1
cos x
, by the quotient rule we have
(sec x)

=
(1)

cos x (1)(cos x)

cos
2
x
=
sin x
cos
2
x
= sec x tan x.
By the chain rule
d
dx
(sec u) = sec utan u
du
dx
.
(b) Since csc x =
1
sin x
, by the quotient rule we have
(csc x)

=
(1)

sin x (1)(sin x)

sin
2
x
=
cos x
sin
2
x
= csc x cot x.
By the chain rule
d
dx
(csc u) = csc ucot u
du
dx
.
(c) Since tan x =
sin x
cos x
, by the quotient rule we have
(tan x)

=
(sin x)

cos x (sin x)(cos x)

cos
2
x
=
cos
2
x + sin
2
x
cos
2
x
=
1
cos
2
x
.
2
By the chain rule
d
dx
(tan u) =
1
cos
2
u
du
dx
.
(d) Since cot x =
1
tan x
, by the quotient rule we have
(cot x)

=
(1)

tan x (1)(tan x)

tan
2
x
=

1
cos
2
x
tan
2
x
=
1
sin
2
x
.
By the chain rule
d
dx
(cot u) =
1
sin
2
u
du
dx
.
Remark 19.1
When dierentiating trigonometric functions, the domain must be given in
radians. Otherwise, conversion and possibly an application of the chain rule
will be required. For example, if f(x) = sin x, and x is in degrees, then
f

(x) =

180
cos x.
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