Using the angle addition formulae In a nutshell The addition formulae for trigonometric functions, and the exact values of trigonometric functions evaluated at certain angles, can be used to compute the exact values of trigonometric functions evaluated at new angles.
Addition formulae The addition formulae for the trigonometric functions are:
sin ( α + β ) ≡ sin ( α ) cos ( β ) + cos ( α ) sin ( β ) sin ( α − β ) ≡ sin ( α ) cos ( β ) − cos ( α ) sin ( β ) cos ( α + β ) ≡ cos ( α ) cos ( β ) − sin ( α ) sin ( β ) cos ( α − β ) ≡ cos ( α ) cos ( β ) + sin ( α ) sin ( β ) tan ( α + β ) ≡ tan ( α ) + tan ( β ) 1 − tan ( α ) tan ( β ) tan ( α − β ) ≡ tan ( α ) − tan ( β ) 1 + tan ( α ) tan ( β ) \begin{aligned}\sin(\alpha + \beta) &\equiv \sin(\alpha)\cos(\beta) + \cos(\alpha)\sin(\beta)\\\sin(\alpha - \beta) &\equiv \sin(\alpha)\cos(\beta) - \cos(\alpha)\sin(\beta)\\\\\cos(\alpha + \beta) &\equiv \cos(\alpha)\cos(\beta) - \sin(\alpha)\sin(\beta)\\\cos(\alpha - \beta) &\equiv \cos(\alpha)\cos(\beta) + \sin(\alpha)\sin(\beta)\\\\\tan(\alpha + \beta) &\equiv \dfrac{\tan(\alpha) + \tan(\beta)}{1 - \tan(\alpha)\tan(\beta)}\\\tan(\alpha - \beta) &\equiv \dfrac{\tan(\alpha) - \tan(\beta)}{1 + \tan(\alpha)\tan(\beta)}\end{aligned} sin ( α + β ) sin ( α − β ) cos ( α + β ) cos ( α − β ) tan ( α + β ) tan ( α − β ) ≡ sin ( α ) cos ( β ) + cos ( α ) sin ( β ) ≡ sin ( α ) cos ( β ) − cos ( α ) sin ( β ) ≡ cos ( α ) cos ( β ) − sin ( α ) sin ( β ) ≡ cos ( α ) cos ( β ) + sin ( α ) sin ( β ) ≡ 1 − tan ( α ) tan ( β ) tan ( α ) + tan ( β ) ≡ 1 + tan ( α ) tan ( β ) tan ( α ) − tan ( β )
Given the exact values of trigonometric functions evaluated at angles α \alpha α and β \beta β , you can use these identities to compute the exact value of trigonometric functions evaluated at α + β \alpha + \beta α + β or α − β \alpha - \beta α − β .
Example 1 Compute the exact value of tan ( 7 π 12 ) \tan\left(\dfrac{7\pi}{12}\right) tan ( 12 7 π ) .
You have that 7 π 12 = π 4 + π 3 \dfrac{7\pi}{12} = \dfrac{\pi}{4} + \dfrac{\pi}{3} 12 7 π = 4 π + 3 π .
tan ( π 4 ) = 1 \tan\left(\dfrac{\pi}{4}\right) = 1 tan ( 4 π ) = 1 , and tan ( π 3 ) = 3 \tan\left(\dfrac{\pi}{3}\right) = \sqrt{3} tan ( 3 π ) = 3 . Use the addition formula for tan \tan tan :
tan ( 7 π 12 ) = tan ( π 4 + π 3 ) = tan ( π 4 ) + tan ( π 3 ) 1 − tan ( π 4 ) tan ( π 3 ) = 1 + 3 1 − 3 = ( 1 + 3 ) 2 ( 1 − 3 ) ( 1 + 3 ) = 4 + 2 3 − 2 = − 2 − 3 \begin{aligned}\tan\left(\dfrac{7\pi}{12}\right) &= \tan\left(\dfrac{\pi}{4} + \dfrac{\pi}{3}\right)\\&= \dfrac{\tan\left(\dfrac{\pi}{4}\right) + \tan\left(\dfrac{\pi}{3}\right)}{1 - \tan\left(\dfrac{\pi}{4}\right)\tan\left(\dfrac{\pi}{3}\right)}\\&= \dfrac{1 + \sqrt{3}}{1 - \sqrt{3}}\\&= \dfrac{(1 + \sqrt{3})^2}{(1 - \sqrt{3})(1 + \sqrt{3})}\\&= \dfrac{4 + 2\sqrt{3}}{-2}\\&= - 2 - \sqrt{3}\end{aligned} tan ( 12 7 π ) = tan ( 4 π + 3 π ) = 1 − tan ( 4 π ) tan ( 3 π ) tan ( 4 π ) + tan ( 3 π ) = 1 − 3 1 + 3 = ( 1 − 3 ) ( 1 + 3 ) ( 1 + 3 ) 2 = − 2 4 + 2 3 = − 2 − 3
Therefore, the exact value of tan ( 7 π 12 ) \tan\left(\dfrac{7\pi}{12}\right) tan ( 12 7 π ) is − 2 − 3 ‾ \underline{-2 - \sqrt{3}} − 2 − 3 .
Example 2 Given that cos ( α ) = 20 29 \cos(\alpha) = \dfrac{20}{29} cos ( α ) = 29 20 , with α \alpha α acute, and sin ( β ) = 24 25 \sin(\beta) = \dfrac{24}{25} sin ( β ) = 25 24 , with β \beta β obtuse, compute the exact value of sin ( α + β ) \sin(\alpha + \beta) sin ( α + β ) .
If cos ( α ) = 20 29 \cos(\alpha) = \dfrac{20}{29} cos ( α ) = 29 20 , then sin ( α ) = ± 1 − cos 2 ( α ) = ± 21 29 \sin(\alpha) = \pm \sqrt{1- \cos^2(\alpha)} = \pm\dfrac{21}{29} sin ( α ) = ± 1 − cos 2 ( α ) = ± 29 21 .
However, α \alpha α is acute, therefore sin ( α ) = 21 29 \sin(\alpha) = \dfrac{21}{29} sin ( α ) = 29 21 .
If sin ( β ) = 24 25 \sin(\beta) = \dfrac{24}{25} sin ( β ) = 25 24 , then cos ( β ) = ± 1 − sin 2 ( β ) = ± 7 25 \cos(\beta) = \pm\sqrt{1 - \sin^2(\beta)} = \pm \dfrac{7}{25} cos ( β ) = ± 1 − sin 2 ( β ) = ± 25 7 .
However, β \beta β is obtuse, therefore cos ( β ) = − 7 25 \cos(\beta) = -\dfrac{7}{25} cos ( β ) = − 25 7 .
Put these together via the addition formula for sin \sin sin :
sin ( α + β ) = sin ( α ) cos ( β ) + cos ( α ) sin ( β ) = ( 21 29 ) ( − 7 25 ) + ( 20 29 ) ( 24 25 ) = 333 725 \begin{aligned}\sin(\alpha + \beta) &= \sin(\alpha)\cos(\beta) + \cos(\alpha)\sin(\beta)\\&= \left(\dfrac{21}{29}\right)\left(-\dfrac{7}{25}\right) + \left(\dfrac{20}{29}\right)\left(\dfrac{24}{25}\right)\\&= \dfrac{333}{725}\end{aligned} sin ( α + β ) = sin ( α ) cos ( β ) + cos ( α ) sin ( β ) = ( 29 21 ) ( − 25 7 ) + ( 29 20 ) ( 25 24 ) = 725 333
Therefore, the exact value of sin ( α + β ) \sin(\alpha + \beta) sin ( α + β ) is 333 725 ‾ \underline{\dfrac{333}{725}} 725 333 .