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quickly: whats the derivative of tan(x)?

deriv(sin x) = cos x
deriv(cos x) = - sin x
deriv(tan x) = (sec)^2
deriv(cot x) = - (csc x)^2
deriv(sec x) = sec x tan x
deriv(csc x) = - csc x cot x
 


<< Word of advice: Make sure that you have the six basic trigonometric derivatives committed to memory. >>




Naw man, all you need is the first 2 and the product rule 🙂
 


<< Naw man, all you need is the first 2 and the product rule >>


Memorizing the six would be much easier than having to rely on the product rule, especially when you're differentiating or integrating something complicated.
 


<< Word of advice: Make sure that you have the six basic trigonometric derivatives committed to memory. >>


as a second year university student i have been told over and over again i only really need to know sinx and cosx

when teh material we are covering involves derivatives they give it to us because they dont want to test our calculus skills but rather what we are using the deriviative for. (here it was the newton-raphson method for finding roots of fncs)

the only course ive run into problems not knowing is my diff. eqns course and even there with a little work you can figure them all out without much trouble.

math isnt about memorizing, its about understanding.

*kat. <-- 😛
 


<<

<< Word of advice: Make sure that you have the six basic trigonometric derivatives committed to memory. >>


as a second year university student i have been told over and over again i only really need to know sinx and cosx

when teh material we are covering involves derivatives they give it to us because they dont want to test our calculus skills but rather what we are using the deriviative for. (here it was the newton-raphson method for finding roots of fncs)

the only course ive run into problems not knowing is my diff. eqns course and even there with a little work you can figure them all out without much trouble.

math isnt about memorizing, its about understanding.

*kat. <-- 😛
>>


It is not a necessity, but a situtation could arise when it could come in very handly. For example, if an integral can only be solved if it is multiplied by some factor of 1, knowing the six basic trigonometric derivatives off the top of your head could come in very handy.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's really not a lot to memorize, so why not memorize it? I don't know. I'll shut up now. 😱
 
Damn.. what a waste of perfectly good time.

Imagine what else you could be doing than learning crap like that.. anyone ever actually use derivitives in any practical application?

Ever been in the grocery store and noticed that one bottle of mineral water had 22 ounces for $1.34 and the other one had.....
 
derivatives are really useful in chemistry, physics, biology, economics, and programming. basically almost anything that involves math also uses derivatives
 
I don't know about any higher level Calculus or Mathematics but I personally found derivatives very useful.

<-- Arts student
 
Yeah, but memorizing is much much simpler than working through it every time. Are you actually going to use the formal definition of a derivative to figure out d/dx sinx every time, and then use the formal definition of a limit to finish of the question, and then prove it? Or are you just gonna say d/dx tanx = sec²x ?
 
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