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S5 CALCULUS NOTES
DIFFERENTIATION OF TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS
Consider the function y  sin x , let x and y be small changes in x and y respectively.

 2 x  x   x 
Now y  sinx  x   sin x  2 cos  sin  (by the factor formula)
 2   2 

 x  x
For small angles in radians, sin    .
 2  2

 2 x  x  y  2 x  x 
 y  cos  . x   cos 
 2  x  2 

dy  y 
 lim    cos x .
dx x 0 x 

Therefore
d
sin x   cos x
dx

To find the derivative of cos ec x from first principles, we let x and y be small changes in x
and y respectively.

So y  cos ec x  x   cos ec x 
1 1

sinx  x  sin x

sin x  sin x  x  sin x  sin x cos x  cos x sin x 

y  
sin x  x sin x sin x  x sin x

For small angles in radians, sin x  x and cos x 1

cos x. x y
Therefore y      cot x cos ec x  x 
sin x  x sin x x

dy  y 
It now follows that  lim     cot x cos ec x .
dx x 0 x 

Therefore
d
cos ec x    cot x cos ec x
dx

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Example

Differentiate y  sin 2 2 x from first principles.

Let x and y be small changes in x and y respectively.

y  sin 2 2x  x   sin 2 2 x  sin 2x  x   sin 2 xsin 2x  x   sin 2 x

(Difference of two squares)

Now applying the factor formula, y  2 sin2 x  x cos x . 2 cos2 x  x sin x

For small angles in radians, cos x 1 , sin x  x

y
Therefore, y  4 sin2 x  x cos 2 x . x   4 sin 2 x  x  cos 2 x
x

dy  y 
Thus,  lim    4 sin 2 x cos 2 x  2 sin 4 x
dx x 0 x 

Trial exercise
Show from first principles that

(a)
d
cos x    sin x (b)
d
tan x   sec2 x
dx dx

(c)
d
sec x   sec x tan x (d)
d
cot x    cos ec 2 x
dx dx

(e)
d
sin 4 x   4 cos 4 x
dx

General differentiation
Find the derivatives of the following with respect to x.

dy
(i) y  sin 3 x ;  3 cos 3 x (i.e. differentiate the angle and multiply by the derivative of the
dx
sine of the angle.)

(ii)  
y  cos 1  x 2 ;
dy
dx
   
  2 x  sin 1  x 2  2 x sin 1  x 2 

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(iii) y  cot 5 x ;
dy
dx
 
 5  cos ec 2 5 x   5 cos ec 2 5 x

(iv) y  cosec1 3x  ;

 3 cot1  3 x  cos ec 1  3 x    3 cot1  3 x  cos ec 1  3 x 

dy
dx

y  cos2 4 x  cos 4 x  ;  42 cos 4 x   sin 4 x    8 cos 4 x sin 4 x

2 dy
(v)
dx

Note that for part (v), we employ the chain rule.

Example

1  sin x dy 1
Given that y  , deduce that  .
1  sin x dx 1  sin x

Solution

1  sin x
For y  , multiply top and bottom by 1  sin x .
1  sin x

 1  sin x   1  sin x  1  sin 2 x cos x

So y   .   
 1  sin x   1  sin x  1 sin x  2
1  sin x

dy 1  sin x  sin x   cos x  cos x 

Now applying the quotient rule, 
dx 1 sin x 2
dy  sin x  sin 2 x  cos2 x 1  sin x
 
dx 1 sin x 2
1 sin x 2
dy 1

dx 1  sin x

Example

 
2
sin x 2 d y dy
Prove that if y  2
, then x 2
 4x  y 2  x 2  0
x dx dx

Solution

Begin by cross multiplying, y x 2  sin x .

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dy
Differentiating implicitly gives x 2  2 xy  cos x .
dx

d2y dy dy
Differentiating implicitly again, x 2 2
 2x  2 x  2 y   sin x .
dx dx dx

d2y dy
x2 2
 4 x  2 y   yx 2
dx dx

 x2
d2y
2
dy

 4x  y 2  x 2  0
dx

dx

Example

d 2 y 1  sin t
Given that x  sin t , y  t  cos t , show that  .
dx 2 cos3 t

Solution

dx dy dy dy dt 1  sin t
 cos t ;  1  sin t ,  .  (by chain rule)
dt dt dx dt dx cost

d2y d  dy  dt  cos t . cos t  1  sin t  sin t  1 1  sin t

  . =     .
dx 2
dt  dx  dx  cos t2
 cos t cos3 t

Example

Use calculus of small changes to find cos2 59.4 0 .

Solution

Step 1: Identify the function to use i.e y  cos2 x

Step 2: Look for the angle closer to 59.4 0 for which the cosine is known i.e. 60 0 .

Now x  600 and x  59.40  600   0.60

Note that the change in the angle in this case should always be changed into radians i.e.
 
x   0.60   0.6  
180 300

dy
Step 3: Find the derivative of y  cos2 x i.e.   2 cos x sin x   sin 2 x
dx

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
Step 4: Compute y when x   and x  600
300

  
. x   sin 2600   
dy
y    0.00907
dx  300 

Step 5: cos2 59.40  y  y  cos2 600  0.00907  0.25907

Trial exercise
1. Differentiate the following with respect to x.

(a) cos2 1  x  (b) tan 2 x 2 (c) 3x 2  x sin x (d) sin 4 x 4

1  cos x 1  sin 4 x
(e) 
cot5 1  x 3  (f)
x
(g) (h)
sin 2 x 1  cos x 1  sin 4 x

1  cos x dy 1
2. Given that y  , deduce that  .
1  cos x dx 1  cos x

3. Prove that if

sin x d2y dy
(a) y then x 2  2  xy  0
x dx dx

cos x d2y dy
(b) y then x 2  2  xy  0
x dx dx

 
2
sin 2 x 2 d y dy
(c) y 2
then x 2
 4x  2 y 1  2x 2  0
x dx dx

dy
(d) y  sin 3 x cos3x then  3 sin 2 x cos 4 x
dx

4. Find the equations of the tangent and the normal to the curve y  3  x cos x at the point
0 , 3 .
1 
5. Show that the curve y  sin x  sin 2 x has stationary points when x  and x   .
2 3
Hence distinguish between these stationary points.

6. Find the values of  in the interval 0 0    3600 , for which the gradient of the curve
y  sin   cos is zero.

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1 sin 2  dy 3 sin 2 dy
7. Given that y  , show that  . Hence find the value of
1 cos 
2
d 
1  cos2  2
d

when   .
3

dy
8. Find in the following cases
dx

(a) x 2 sec x  xy  2 y 2  15 (b) y sin x  x 2

(c) y 2 sin x  3x  5 (d) y 2 sin x  x 2  2 y

dy d2y
9. Find and for the curve defined parametrically by
dx dx 2

(a) x  cos 2t , y  cos t (b) x  4 cos , y  3 sin 

10. Show that if

d2y 1
(a) x  cos 2 , y  cos then 
dx 2
16 cos3 

d2y 3
(b) y  3 cot , x  2 cos ec then 2
  tan 3  .
dx 4

11. Use calculus of small changes to estimate the following correct to three significant
figures

(a) sin 2 30.5 0 (b) cot 44 0 (c) tan 45.4 0

2
d 2 y  dy 
y 2     y4
12. If y  sec x , prove that dx  dx  .
3
d2y  dy 
13. Given that y  sin and x  1  cos 2 , show that  4  .
 dx 
2
dx
2
If y  sec x  tan x , show that cos x
d y dy
2  2 y tan x .
2
14. 2
dx dx

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Differentiation of inverse trigonometric functions

Suppose that y  sin 1 x ( the angle for which the sine is y).

It follows that sin y  x .

Differentiating both side implicitly with respect to x gives,

dy
cos y  1.
dx

dy
Now make the subject and express cos y in terms of x.
dx

dy 1 1 1
    .
dx cos y 1  sin y
2
1  x2

Therefore
d
 
sin 1 x 
1
.
dx 1  x2

As we differentiate inverse trigonometric functions, we need to bear in mind the following

trigonometric identities.

(i) sin 2   cos2   1 (ii) sec2   1  tan 2 

(iii) cos ec 2  1  cot 2 

Example

Differentiate the following with respect to x.

(a) tan 1 3 x

Let y  tan 1 3x  tan y  3x

Differentiating both sides implicitly with respect to x,

dy dy 3 3 3
sec2 y  3;   =
dx dx sec y 1  tan y 1  9 x 2
2 2

(b) cos1 x 2

Let y  cos1 x 2  cos y  x 2

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Differentiating both sides implicitly with respect to x,

dy dy 2x 2x 2x
 sin y  2x   =  
dx dx sin y 1  cos y
2
1  x4

(c) cot 1 1  x 

Let y  cot 1 1  x   cot y  1  x

Differentiating both sides implicitly with respect to x,

dy dy 1 1 1
 cos ec 2 y  1   =  2
dx dx cos ec y 1  1  x 
2 2
x  2x  2

Trial exercise
1. Differentiate the following with respect to x

(a) sin 1 1  x  (b) 

tan 1 x 2  1  (c) tan 1  1  4 x 

(d) x 2 sin 1 x  1 (e) x cos1 x  1 (f) x 2


 1 tan 1 x

(g) sin 1  x (h) x 2 cot 1 x 2 (i) 

cot 1 x 2  1 
2. Show that
d
dx
 1
2

tan 1 sec x  tan x   .

 3  5 sin x 
3. Differentiate cos1   giving your answer in its simplest form.
 5  3 sin x 

4.

If y  tan 2 tan
1 x 
 , show that 

dy 4 1  y 2 
 2 dx 4  x 2
2
 dy  1
5. Show that if y  sin x  1 , then     2
1
.
 dx  x  2x

6.  
Show that if loge x 2  y 2  tan 1
y
x
, then
dy 2 x  y

dx x  2 y
.

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