Given that θ is measured in radians, prove, from first principles, that
d
dθ (cosθ) = -sinθ
You may assume the formula for cos(A ± B) and that as h → 0, sin(h)/h → 1 and cos(h) - 1/h → 0. - Edexcel - A-Level Maths Pure - Question 11 - 2018 - Paper 2
Question 11
Given that θ is measured in radians, prove, from first principles, that
d
dθ (cosθ) = -sinθ
You may assume the formula for cos(A ± B) and that as h → 0, sin(h)/h ... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Given that θ is measured in radians, prove, from first principles, that
d
dθ (cosθ) = -sinθ
You may assume the formula for cos(A ± B) and that as h → 0, sin(h)/h → 1 and cos(h) - 1/h → 0. - Edexcel - A-Level Maths Pure - Question 11 - 2018 - Paper 2
Step 1
Using the Definition of the Derivative
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Answer
To prove the statement, we start with the definition of the derivative:
rac{d}{dθ}( ext{cos}θ) = rac{ ext{lim}_{h o 0}( ext{cos}(θ+h) - ext{cos}θ)}{h}
The formula for the cosine of a sum provides:
extcos(θ+h)=extcosθextcosh−extsinθextsinh.
Substituting this into our limit expression gives: