Lecture Notes on Precalculus

Eleftherios Gkioulekas
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Last updated: June 28, 2020
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Contents
1 Trigonometric identities 2
2 PRE1: Review of geometry 4
3 PRE2: Trigonometric functions 13
4 PRE3: Trigonometric identities 46
5 PRE4: Trigonometric equations and inequalities 72
6 PRE5: Application to Triangles 104
7 PRE6: Vectors 123
8 PRE7: Sequences and series 143
9 PRE8: Conic sections 161
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Trigonometric identities
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Trigonometric identities

a±b 2a
⇓  ⇓
sin(a ± b) = sin a cos b ± sin b cos a 
 sin(2a) = 2 sin a cos a
cos(a ± b) = cos a cos b ∓ sin a sin b 
 cos(2a) = cos2 a − sin2 a = 2 cos2 a − 1 = 1 − 2 sin2 a


tan a ± tan b 2 tan a
tan(a ± b) = =⇒ tan(2a) =
1 ∓ tan a tan b 
 1 − tan2 a
cot a cot b ∓ 1 
 cot2 a − 1
cot(a ± b) = (!!) 
 cot(2a) =
cot b ± cot a 2 cot a

I sin(a + b) sin(a − b) = sin2 a − sin2 b

I cos(a + b) cos(a − b) = cos2 a − sin2 b

sin(3a) = −4 sin3 a + 3 sin a 3 tan a − tan3 a

3a =⇒ tan(3a) =
cos(3a) = +4 cos3 a − 3 cos a 1 − 3 tan2 a

In terms of
cos 2a tan(a/2)
⇓ ⇓
1 − cos(2a) 1 + cos(2a) 2 tan(a/2) 1 − tan2 (a/2)
sin2 a = cos2 a = sin a = cos a =
2 2 1 + tan2 (a/2) 1 + tan2 (a/2)
2 1 − cos(2a) 2 1 + cos(2a) 2 tan(a/2) 1 − tan2 (a/2)
tan a = cot a = tan a = cot a =
1 + cos(2a) 1 − cos(2a) 1 − tan2 (a/2) 2 tan(a/2)

Transformation to
sum product
⇓ ⇓
a±b a∓b
 sin a ± sin b = 2 sin cos
2 sin a cos b = sin(a − b) + sin(a + b)  2 2
a+b a−b
2 cos a cos b = cos(a − b) + cos(a + b) =⇒ cos a + cos b = 2 cos cos
 2 2
2 sin a sin b = cos(a − b) − cos(a + b) a+b b−a
cos a − cos b = 2 sin sin (!!)
2 2
sin(a ± b)
tan a ± tan b =
cos a cos b
sin(b ∓ a)
cot a ± cot b = (!!)
sin a sin b
Also note the factorizations:
(π/2) ± a (π/2) ∓ a
I 1 ± sin a = sin(π/2) ± sin a = 2 sin cos
2 2
a ± (π/2 − b) a ∓ (π/2 − b)
I sin a ± cos b = sin a ± sin(π/2 − b) = 2 sin cos
2 2
I 1 + cos a = 2 cos2 (a/2)
I 1 − cos a = 2 sin2 (a/2)
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PRE1: Review of geometry

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PRE2: Trigonometric functions

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PRE3: Trigonometric identities

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PRE4: Trigonometric equations and inequalities

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PRE5: Application to Triangles

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PRE6: Vectors
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PRE7: Sequences and series

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PRE8: Conic sections

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References
The following references were consulted during the preparation of these lecture notes.
(1) Pistofides (1988): “Algebra. I.”, unpublished lecture notes.
(2) Pistofides (1989): “Algebra. II.”, unpublished lecture notes.
(3) Xenou (1994): “Algebra and Analytic Geometry. 1”, , Ekdoseis ZHTH.
(4) Xenou (1995): “Algebra B”, Ekdoseis ZHTH.
Lecture notes by Pistofides are available for download at
http://www.math.utpa.edu/lf/OGS/pistofides.html