Trigonometry Examples

$\frac{1}{1 - \sin (x)} - \frac{1}{1 + \sin (x)} = 2 \tan (x) \sec (x)$

Step 1

Start on the left side.

$\frac{1}{1 - \sin (x)} - \frac{1}{1 + \sin (x)}$

Step 2

Subtract fractions.

Tap for more steps...

Step 2.1

To write $\frac{1}{1 - \sin (x)}$ as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by $\frac{1 + \sin (x)}{1 + \sin (x)}$ .

$\frac{1}{1 - \sin (x)} \cdot \frac{1 + \sin (x)}{1 + \sin (x)} - \frac{1}{1 + \sin (x)}$

Step 2.2

To write $- \frac{1}{1 + \sin (x)}$ as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by $\frac{1 - \sin (x)}{1 - \sin (x)}$ .

$\frac{1}{1 - \sin (x)} \cdot \frac{1 + \sin (x)}{1 + \sin (x)} - \frac{1}{1 + \sin (x)} \cdot \frac{1 - \sin (x)}{1 - \sin (x)}$

Step 2.3

Write each expression with a common denominator of $(1 - \sin (x)) (1 + \sin (x))$ , by multiplying each by an appropriate factor of $1$ .

Tap for more steps...

Step 2.3.1

Multiply $\frac{1}{1 - \sin (x)}$ by $\frac{1 + \sin (x)}{1 + \sin (x)}$ .

$\frac{1 + \sin (x)}{(1 - \sin (x)) (1 + \sin (x))} - \frac{1}{1 + \sin (x)} \cdot \frac{1 - \sin (x)}{1 - \sin (x)}$

Step 2.3.2

Multiply $\frac{1}{1 + \sin (x)}$ by $\frac{1 - \sin (x)}{1 - \sin (x)}$ .

$\frac{1 + \sin (x)}{(1 - \sin (x)) (1 + \sin (x))} - \frac{1 - \sin (x)}{(1 + \sin (x)) (1 - \sin (x))}$

Step 2.3.3

Reorder the factors of $(1 - \sin (x)) (1 + \sin (x))$ .

$\frac{1 + \sin (x)}{(1 + \sin (x)) (1 - \sin (x))} - \frac{1 - \sin (x)}{(1 + \sin (x)) (1 - \sin (x))}$

Step 2.4

Combine the numerators over the common denominator.

$\frac{1 + \sin (x) - (1 - \sin (x))}{(1 + \sin (x)) (1 - \sin (x))}$

Step 3

Simplify numerator.

Tap for more steps...

Step 3.1

Simplify each term.

Tap for more steps...

Step 3.1.1

Apply the distributive property.

$\frac{1 + \sin (x) - 1 \cdot 1 - - \sin (x)}{(1 + \sin (x)) (1 - \sin (x))}$

Step 3.1.2

Multiply $- 1$ by $1$ .

$\frac{1 + \sin (x) - 1 - - \sin (x)}{(1 + \sin (x)) (1 - \sin (x))}$

Step 3.1.3

Multiply $- - \sin (x)$ .

Tap for more steps...

Step 3.1.3.1

Multiply $- 1$ by $- 1$ .

$\frac{1 + \sin (x) - 1 + 1 \sin (x)}{(1 + \sin (x)) (1 - \sin (x))}$

Step 3.1.3.2

Multiply $\sin (x)$ by $1$ .

$\frac{1 + \sin (x) - 1 + \sin (x)}{(1 + \sin (x)) (1 - \sin (x))}$

Step 3.2

Subtract $1$ from $1$ .

$\frac{0 + \sin (x) + \sin (x)}{(1 + \sin (x)) (1 - \sin (x))}$

Step 3.3

Add $0$ and $\sin (x)$ .

$\frac{\sin (x) + \sin (x)}{(1 + \sin (x)) (1 - \sin (x))}$

Step 3.4

Add $\sin (x)$ and $\sin (x)$ .

$\frac{2 \sin (x)}{(1 + \sin (x)) (1 - \sin (x))}$

Step 4

Simplify denominator.

Tap for more steps...

Step 4.1

Expand $(1 + \sin (x)) (1 - \sin (x))$ using the FOIL Method.

Tap for more steps...

Step 4.1.1

Apply the distributive property.

$\frac{2 \sin (x)}{1 (1 - \sin (x)) + \sin (x) (1 - \sin (x))}$

Step 4.1.2

Apply the distributive property.

$\frac{2 \sin (x)}{1 \cdot 1 + 1 (- \sin (x)) + \sin (x) (1 - \sin (x))}$

Step 4.1.3

Apply the distributive property.

$\frac{2 \sin (x)}{1 \cdot 1 + 1 (- \sin (x)) + \sin (x) \cdot 1 + \sin (x) (- \sin (x))}$

Step 4.2

Simplify and combine like terms.

$\frac{2 \sin (x)}{1 - \sin^{2} (x)}$

Step 5

Apply pythagorean identity.

$\frac{2 \sin (x)}{\cos^{2} (x)}$

Step 6

Rewrite $\frac{2 \sin (x)}{\cos^{2} (x)}$ as $2 \tan (x) \sec (x)$ .

$2 \tan (x) \sec (x)$

Step 7

Because the two sides have been shown to be equivalent, the equation is an identity.

$\frac{1}{1 - \sin (x)} - \frac{1}{1 + \sin (x)} = 2 \tan (x) \sec (x)$ is an identity