Compound & Double Angle Formulae (Cambridge (CIE) A Level Maths: Pure 3): Flashcards

Exam code: 9709

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Cards in this collection (19)

  • \sin \left(A + B\right) \equiv \sin A \cos B + \_\_\_\_\_\_

    \cos \left(A + B\right) \equiv \cos A \cos B - \_\_\_\_\_\_

    \sin\left(A + B\right) \equiv \sin A \cos B + \cos A \sin B

    \cos\left(A + B\right) \equiv \cos A \cos B - \sin A \sin B

    For \sin, the sign on the right matches the one on the left.

  • How do the signs work in the \tan compound angle formula?

    The sign on the left matches the one in the numerator, and is opposite to the one in the denominator.

    So \tan\left(A + B\right) \equiv \frac{\tan A + \tan B}{1 - \tan A \tan B}.

  • How is the \tan compound angle formula derived?

    Write \tan\left(A + B\right) as \frac{\sin\left(A + B\right)}{\cos\left(A + B\right)} and expand both parts.

    Dividing the numerator and denominator by \cos A \cos B then turns every term into a tangent.

  • True or False?

    \cos\left(A - B\right) \equiv \cos A \cos B + \sin A \sin B

    True.

    For cosine the sign on the right is opposite to the one on the left, so a minus outside gives a plus inside.

    Sine and tangent behave the other way round, which is why the cosine pair is the one that catches people out.

  • Why is \sin \left(A + B\right) not simply \sin A + \sin B?

    Because sine is not additive: adding the angles does not add the values.

    Arithmetic settles it at once. \sin 90^{\circ} = 1, but \sin 45^{\circ} + \sin 45^{\circ} \approx 1 . 41.

  • How can a compound angle formula give the exact value of \sin 75 \circ?

    Write 75^{\circ} as 45^{\circ} + 30^{\circ}, both of which have exact values.

    Expanding \sin\left(45^{\circ} + 30^{\circ}\right) then gives an exact answer in surds.

  • Complete the double angle formula for tangent:

    \tan 2 A \equiv \frac{\_\_\_\_\_\_}{1 - \_\_\_\_\_\_}

    The completed formula is:

    \tan 2 A \equiv \frac{2 \tan A}{1 - \tan^{2} A}

    Note that it is not simply 2 \tan A: doubling the angle does not double the tangent.

  • What are the three forms of \cos 2 A?

    They are \cos^{2} A - \sin^{2} A, 2 \cos^{2} A - 1 and 1 - 2 \sin^{2} A.

    The last two come from the first by using \sin^{2} A + \cos^{2} A \equiv 1 to remove one of the two squared terms.

  • How is every double angle formula obtained from a compound angle formula?

    By setting B = A, so that A + B becomes 2 A.

    Each of \sin \left(A + A\right), \cos \left(A + A\right) and \tan \left(A + A\right) then collapses into the corresponding double angle result.

  • True or False?

    \sin 4 A \equiv 2 \sin 2 A \cos 2 A

    True.

    The formula holds for any angle, so replacing A by 2 A throughout is perfectly legitimate.

    The same move gives \cos 6 A from the \cos 2 A formula with A replaced by 3 A.

  • Which form of \cos 2 A should you choose?

    Choose whichever form is written in terms of the function the rest of the equation already uses.

    An equation containing \sin A elsewhere is easiest with the form carrying only \sin^{2} A, because everything is then in a single function.

  • What should you do on meeting 2 \sin A \cos A in an expression?

    Replace it with \sin 2 A, turning two factors into a single term.

    The double angle formulae are just as useful read from right to left as from left to right.

  • What do you do with an equation containing both \sin 2 \theta and \sin \theta?

    Use a double angle formula on the 2 \theta term, so that every term involves the same angle.

    In 7 \sin 2 \theta - 3 \sin \theta = 0 that gives 14 \sin \theta \cos \theta - 3 \sin \theta = 0, which then factorises.

  • Define harmonic form.

    Writing an expression such as a \sin x + b \cos x as a single trigonometric function, R \sin\left(x + \alpha\right).

    It is the reverse of expanding with a compound angle formula, and can be thought of as factorising.

  • For a \sin x + b \cos x \equiv R \sin \left(x + \alpha\right):

    R = \_\_\_\_\_\_ and \tan \alpha = \_\_\_\_\_\_

    R = \sqrt{a^{2} + b^{2}} and \tan \alpha = \frac{b}{a}

    R is always taken positive, and \alpha between 0^{\circ} and 90^{\circ}.

  • How do you rewrite an expression in harmonic form?

    Expand the target form with the appropriate compound angle formula, then equate coefficients of \sin x and \cos x.

    That gives R \cos \alpha = a and R \sin \alpha = b, which between them fix both unknowns.

  • Why does dividing the two coefficient equations give you \tan \alpha?

    Because the Rs cancel, leaving \frac{\sin \alpha}{\cos \alpha} = \frac{b}{a}.

    That quotient is \tan \alpha, so \alpha = \tan^{- 1}\frac{b}{a}.

  • Why is harmonic form useful?

    It turns two trigonometric terms into one, which can then be solved or analysed like any single function.

    The maximum of R \sin\left(x + \alpha\right) is R and its minimum is - R, which is immediate once it is written that way.

  • True or False?

    There is only one correct harmonic form for a given expression.

    False.

    The same expression can be written with \sin or with \cos, and with + \alpha or - \alpha, giving four equivalent forms.

    A question will say which of them it wants.

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