Proving the Trigonometric Identity: SecA tanA / cscA cotA (cscA - cotA) / (secA - tanA)

Proving the Trigonometric Identity: SecA tanA / cscA cotA (cscA - cotA) / (secA - tanA)

Trigonometric identities play a crucial role in simplifying complex expressions and solving equations in mathematics. One such interesting identity is:

SecA tanA / cscA cotA (cscA - cotA) / (secA - tanA)

Proof:

Rewrite the Left Side:
Start with the expression:

SecA tanA / cscA cotA

Using the definitions of the trigonometric functions: secA 1 / cosA tanA sinA / cosA cscA 1 / sinA cotA cosA / sinA Substitute the trigonometric identities:

secA tanA (1 / cosA) * (sinA / cosA) (1 sinA) / cosA

cscA cotA (1 / sinA) * (cosA / sinA) (1 cosA) / sinA

Thus, the left side becomes:

(1 sinA / sinA) / (1 cosA / cosA) (1 sinA sinA) / (1 cosA cosA)

Rewrite the Right Side:
Now let's rewrite the right side:

(cscA - cotA) / (secA - tanA)

Using the definitions: cscA - cotA (1 / sinA) - (cosA / sinA) (1 cosA) / sinA secA - tanA (1 / cosA) - (sinA / cosA) (1 sinA) / cosA Substitute these into the right side:

((1 cosA) / sinA) / ((1 sinA) / cosA) (1 cosA cosA) / (1 sinA sinA)

Set Both Sides Equal:
Now we have the simplified forms:

Left Side:

(1 sinA sinA) / (1 cosA cosA)

Right Side:

(1 cosA cosA) / (1 sinA sinA)

Cross-Multiply:
To prove the equality, we can cross-multiply:

(1 sinA) (1 sinA) (1 cosA) (1 cosA)

Which simplifies to:

1 sin2A 1 cos2A

Using the Pythagorean identity:

1 - sin2A cos2A

And 1 - cos2A sin2A

Both sides are equal:

cos2A sin2A sin2A cos2A

Therefore, the identity is proven.

Conclusion:
We have shown that:

SecA tanA / cscA cotA (cscA - cotA) / (secA - tanA)

Summary:

The problem of verifying the identity SecA tanA / cscA cotA equating to (cscA - cotA) / (secA - tanA) involves expressing trigonometric functions in terms of sine and cosine and using Pythagorean identities to simplify and prove the equality.

Further Readings:

More on Trigonometric Identities Understanding Secant, Tangent, Cosecant, and Cotangent Pythagorean Identity in Trigonometry