# Is trigonometry required for calculus

1. Feb 3, 2012

### NewTrino

Hello, I've recently been reading "Calculus made Easy" and realized that I've completely skipped over learning trigonometry. After the class I was taking (seventh grade advanced math, sadly) became completely insufficient for my desire to learn. I picked up the book at the local library, unfortunately forgetting about trigonometry until I ran into sine and cosine references. So I was wondering if knowing trigonometry is required for calculus or if I should just get the basic grasp on it.

2. Feb 3, 2012

### Char. Limit

It's helpful to have a basic sense of what the sine and cosine represent. Most of trigonometry isn't used for calculus, though.

3. Feb 3, 2012

### mathman

For better or worse if you are going to anything with calculus, it is hard to avoid trigonometry.

4. Feb 3, 2012

### Char. Limit

Never mind what I said earlier. This guy's right.

5. Feb 3, 2012

### micromass

You'll need to know about sines, cosines, tangents, etc. You'll absolutely need to know about identities with those things. Identities like $\cos^2(x)+\sin^2(x)=1$ or $2\cos(x)\sin(x)=\sin(2x)$ are important.

Less important are the triangle-thingies. Formulas like sohcahtoa or the cosine rule are not so prevalent.