Welcome to your guide for conquering advanced trigonometric derivatives in AP Calculus! If you’ve already nailed the derivatives of sin(x) and cos(x), you’re ready to tackle the rest. Memorizing these rules will make your calculus journey smoother and more intuitive.
Tip: Familiarize yourself with trigonometric identities like tan(x) = sin(x)/cos(x) and cot(x) = 1/tan(x) to simplify expressions before differentiating.
Derivative of tan(x)
The derivative of tan(x) is sec²(x). Let’s explore an example:
Consider the function: f(x) = 3tan(x) + 2x²
Differentiate each term separately:
Thus, the derivative is: f'(x) = 3sec²(x) + 4x.
Derivative of cot(x)
The derivative of cot(x) is -csc²(x). Here’s an example:
Given: f(x) = 5cot(x) + x
We again have to differentiate the two terms separately! The derivative of cot x is −csc2x, so the derivative of the first term is −5csc2x. The derivative of x is 1. Therefore, f′(x)=−5csc2x + 1 or f′(x) = 1 − 5csc2x.
Derivative of sec(x)
The derivative of sec(x) is sec(x)tan(x). For example:
Take: f(x) = 2sec(x) + 3x³
Knowing the above trig derivative rule, the derivative of the first term is 2secx tanx. The derivative of 3x3 is 9x2. Thus, f′(x) = 2secx tanx + 9x2.
Derivative of csc(x)
The derivative of csc(x) is -csc(x)cot(x). Here’s an example:
Consider: f(x) = 4csc(x) + 7x²
Differentiate each part:
Therefore: f'(x) = -4csc(x)cot(x) + 14x.
These problems integrate multiple derivative rules. If you need a refresher, review the power rule, sum/difference rules, product rule, quotient rule, and derivatives of basic functions like sin(x), cos(x), ex, and ln(x).
Key Terms to Understand
26 videos|75 docs|38 tests
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1. What are the basic derivatives of trigonometric functions? | ![]() |
2. How do you find the derivative of the tangent function? | ![]() |
3. What is the derivative of cotangent, and how is it derived? | ![]() |
4. Can you explain how to differentiate secant and cosecant functions? | ![]() |
5. Why are trigonometric derivatives important in calculus? | ![]() |