Trigonometry Examples

$\frac{\sec^{4} (x) - \tan^{4} (x)}{\sec^{2} (x) + \tan^{2} (x)} = \sec^{2} (x) - \tan^{2} (x)$

Step 1

Start on the left side.

$\frac{\sec^{4} (x) - \tan^{4} (x)}{\sec^{2} (x) + \tan^{2} (x)}$

Step 2

Convert to sines and cosines.

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Step 2.1

Apply the reciprocal identity to $\sec (x)$ .

$\frac{{(\frac{1}{\cos (x)})}^{4} - \tan^{4} (x)}{\sec^{2} (x) + \tan^{2} (x)}$

Step 2.2

Write $\tan (x)$ in sines and cosines using the quotient identity.

$\frac{{(\frac{1}{\cos (x)})}^{4} - {(\frac{\sin (x)}{\cos (x)})}^{4}}{\sec^{2} (x) + \tan^{2} (x)}$

Step 2.3

Apply the reciprocal identity to $\sec (x)$ .

$\frac{{(\frac{1}{\cos (x)})}^{4} - {(\frac{\sin (x)}{\cos (x)})}^{4}}{{(\frac{1}{\cos (x)})}^{2} + \tan^{2} (x)}$

Step 2.4

Write $\tan (x)$ in sines and cosines using the quotient identity.

$\frac{{(\frac{1}{\cos (x)})}^{4} - {(\frac{\sin (x)}{\cos (x)})}^{4}}{{(\frac{1}{\cos (x)})}^{2} + {(\frac{\sin (x)}{\cos (x)})}^{2}}$

Step 2.5

Apply the product rule to $\frac{1}{\cos (x)}$ .

$\frac{\frac{1^{4}}{\cos^{4} (x)} - {(\frac{\sin (x)}{\cos (x)})}^{4}}{{(\frac{1}{\cos (x)})}^{2} + {(\frac{\sin (x)}{\cos (x)})}^{2}}$

Step 2.6

Apply the product rule to $\frac{\sin (x)}{\cos (x)}$ .

$\frac{\frac{1^{4}}{\cos^{4} (x)} - \frac{\sin^{4} (x)}{\cos^{4} (x)}}{{(\frac{1}{\cos (x)})}^{2} + {(\frac{\sin (x)}{\cos (x)})}^{2}}$

Step 2.7

Apply the product rule to $\frac{1}{\cos (x)}$ .

$\frac{\frac{1^{4}}{\cos^{4} (x)} - \frac{\sin^{4} (x)}{\cos^{4} (x)}}{\frac{1^{2}}{\cos^{2} (x)} + {(\frac{\sin (x)}{\cos (x)})}^{2}}$

Step 2.8

Apply the product rule to $\frac{\sin (x)}{\cos (x)}$ .

$\frac{\frac{1^{4}}{\cos^{4} (x)} - \frac{\sin^{4} (x)}{\cos^{4} (x)}}{\frac{1^{2}}{\cos^{2} (x)} + \frac{\sin^{2} (x)}{\cos^{2} (x)}}$

Step 3

Simplify.

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Step 3.1

Multiply the numerator and denominator of the fraction by ${\cos (x)}^{4}$ .

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Step 3.1.1

Multiply $\frac{\frac{1^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{4}} - \frac{{\sin (x)}^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{4}}}{\frac{1^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}} + \frac{{\sin (x)}^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}}}$ by $\frac{{\cos (x)}^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{4}}$ .

$\frac{{\cos (x)}^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{4}} \cdot \frac{\frac{1^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{4}} - \frac{{\sin (x)}^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{4}}}{\frac{1^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}} + \frac{{\sin (x)}^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}}}$

Step 3.1.2

Combine.

$\frac{{\cos (x)}^{4} (\frac{1^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{4}} - \frac{{\sin (x)}^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{4}})}{{\cos (x)}^{4} (\frac{1^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}} + \frac{{\sin (x)}^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}})}$

Step 3.2

Apply the distributive property.

$\frac{{\cos (x)}^{4} \frac{1^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{4}} + {\cos (x)}^{4} (- \frac{{\sin (x)}^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{4}})}{{\cos (x)}^{4} \frac{1^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}} + {\cos (x)}^{4} \frac{{\sin (x)}^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}}}$

Step 3.3

Simplify by cancelling.

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Step 3.3.1

Cancel the common factor of ${\cos (x)}^{4}$ .

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Step 3.3.1.1

Cancel the common factor.

Step 3.3.1.2

Rewrite the expression.

$\frac{1^{4} + {\cos (x)}^{4} (- \frac{{\sin (x)}^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{4}})}{{\cos (x)}^{4} \frac{1^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}} + {\cos (x)}^{4} \frac{{\sin (x)}^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}}}$

Step 3.3.2

Cancel the common factor of ${\cos (x)}^{4}$ .

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Step 3.3.2.1

Move the leading negative in $- \frac{{\sin (x)}^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{4}}$ into the numerator.

$\frac{1^{4} + {\cos (x)}^{4} \frac{- {\sin (x)}^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{4}}}{{\cos (x)}^{4} \frac{1^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}} + {\cos (x)}^{4} \frac{{\sin (x)}^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}}}$

Step 3.3.2.2

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{1^{4} + {\cos (x)}^{4} \frac{- {\sin (x)}^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{4}}}{{\cos (x)}^{4} \frac{1^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}} + {\cos (x)}^{4} \frac{{\sin (x)}^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}}}$

Step 3.3.2.3

Rewrite the expression.

$\frac{1^{4} - {\sin (x)}^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{4} \frac{1^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}} + {\cos (x)}^{4} \frac{{\sin (x)}^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}}}$

Step 3.3.3

Cancel the common factor of ${\cos (x)}^{2}$ .

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Step 3.3.3.1

Factor ${\cos (x)}^{2}$ out of ${\cos (x)}^{4}$ .

$\frac{1^{4} - {\sin (x)}^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{2} {\cos (x)}^{2} \frac{1^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}} + {\cos (x)}^{4} \frac{{\sin (x)}^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}}}$

Step 3.3.3.2

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{1^{4} - {\sin (x)}^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{2} {\cos (x)}^{2} \frac{1^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}} + {\cos (x)}^{4} \frac{{\sin (x)}^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}}}$

Step 3.3.3.3

Rewrite the expression.

$\frac{1^{4} - {\sin (x)}^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{2} \cdot 1^{2} + {\cos (x)}^{4} \frac{{\sin (x)}^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}}}$

Step 3.3.4

Cancel the common factor of ${\cos (x)}^{2}$ .

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Step 3.3.4.1

Factor ${\cos (x)}^{2}$ out of ${\cos (x)}^{4}$ .

$\frac{1^{4} - {\sin (x)}^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{2} \cdot 1^{2} + {\cos (x)}^{2} {\cos (x)}^{2} \frac{{\sin (x)}^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}}}$

Step 3.3.4.2

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{1^{4} - {\sin (x)}^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{2} \cdot 1^{2} + {\cos (x)}^{2} {\cos (x)}^{2} \frac{{\sin (x)}^{2}}{{\cos (x)}^{2}}}$

Step 3.3.4.3

Rewrite the expression.

$\frac{1^{4} - {\sin (x)}^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{2} \cdot 1^{2} + {\cos (x)}^{2} {\sin (x)}^{2}}$

Step 3.4

Simplify the numerator.

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Step 3.4.1

Rewrite $1^{4}$ as ${(1^{2})}^{2}$ .

$\frac{{(1^{2})}^{2} - {\sin (x)}^{4}}{{\cos (x)}^{2} \cdot 1^{2} + {\cos (x)}^{2} {\sin (x)}^{2}}$

Step 3.4.2

Rewrite ${\sin (x)}^{4}$ as ${({\sin (x)}^{2})}^{2}$ .

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

Step 3.4.3

Since both terms are perfect squares, factor using the difference of squares formula, $a^{2} - b^{2} = (a + b) (a - b)$ where $a = 1^{2}$ and $b = {\sin (x)}^{2}$ .

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

Step 3.4.4

Simplify.

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Step 3.4.4.1

One to any power is one.

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

Step 3.4.4.2

Since both terms are perfect squares, factor using the difference of squares formula, $a^{2} - b^{2} = (a + b) (a - b)$ where $a = 1$ and $b = \sin (x)$ .

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

Step 3.5

Simplify the denominator.

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Step 3.5.1

Factor ${\cos (x)}^{2}$ out of ${\cos (x)}^{2} \cdot 1^{2} + {\cos (x)}^{2} {\sin (x)}^{2}$ .

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Step 3.5.1.1

Factor ${\cos (x)}^{2}$ out of ${\cos (x)}^{2} \cdot 1^{2}$ .

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

Step 3.5.1.2

Factor ${\cos (x)}^{2}$ out of ${\cos (x)}^{2} {\sin (x)}^{2}$ .

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

Step 3.5.1.3

Factor ${\cos (x)}^{2}$ out of ${\cos (x)}^{2} (1^{2}) + {\cos (x)}^{2} ({\sin (x)}^{2})$ .

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

Step 3.5.2

One to any power is one.

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

Step 3.6

Cancel the common factor of $1 + {\sin (x)}^{2}$ .

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

Step 4

Now consider the right side of the equation.

$\sec^{2} (x) - \tan^{2} (x)$

Step 5

Convert to sines and cosines.

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Step 5.1

Apply the reciprocal identity to $\sec (x)$ .

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

Step 5.2

Write $\tan (x)$ in sines and cosines using the quotient identity.

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

Step 5.3

Apply the product rule to $\frac{1}{\cos (x)}$ .

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

Step 5.4

Apply the product rule to $\frac{\sin (x)}{\cos (x)}$ .

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

Step 6

One to any power is one.

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

Step 7

Combine the numerators over the common denominator.

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

Step 8

Simplify the numerator.

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

Step 9

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

$\frac{\sec^{4} (x) - \tan^{4} (x)}{\sec^{2} (x) + \tan^{2} (x)} = \sec^{2} (x) - \tan^{2} (x)$ is an identity