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Cotangent

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One of the trigonometric functions:

$$y=\operatorname{cotan}x=\frac{\cos x}{\sin x};$$

other notations are $\cot x$, $\operatorname{cotg}x$ and $\operatorname{ctg}x$. The domain of definition is the entire real line with the exception of the points with abscissas $x=\pi n$, $n=0,\pm1,\pm2,\ldots$. The cotangent is an unbounded odd periodic function (with period $\pi$). The cotangent and the tangent are related by

$$\operatorname{cotan}x=\frac{1}{\tan x}.$$

The inverse function to the cotangent is called the arccotangent. The derivative of the cotangent is given by:

$$(\operatorname{cotan}x)'=\frac{-1}{\sin^2x}.$$

The integral of the cotangent is given by:

$$\int\operatorname{cotan}x\,dx=\ln|{\sin x}|+C.$$

The series expansion is:

$$\operatorname{cotan}x=\frac1x-\frac x3-\frac{x^3}{45}-\dotsb,\quad0<|x|<\pi.$$

The cotangent of a complex argument $z$ is a meromorphic function with poles at the points $z=\pi n$, $n=0,\pm1,\pm2,\ldots$.


Comments

See also Tangent, curve of the; Sine; Cosine.

How to Cite This Entry:
Cotangent. Encyclopedia of Mathematics. URL: http://encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php?title=Cotangent&oldid=44648
This article was adapted from an original article by Yu.A. Gor'kov (originator), which appeared in Encyclopedia of Mathematics - ISBN 1402006098. See original article