Revision as of 05:20, 20 March 2015

The secant function is defined by $$\sec(z)=\dfrac{1}{\cos(z)}.$$

Secant.png

Graph of $\sec$ on $\mathbb{R}$.
Complex Sec.jpg

Domain coloring of analytic continuation of $\sec$.

Properties

Theorem

The following formula holds: $$\dfrac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}z} \sec(z)=\tan(z)\sec(z),$$ where $\sec$ denotes the secant and $\cot$ denotes the cotangent.

Proof

From the definition of secant, $$\sec(z) = \dfrac{1}{\cos(z)},$$ and so using the quotient rule, the derivative of cosine, and the definition of tangent, $$\dfrac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}z} \sec(z) = \dfrac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}z} \dfrac{1}{\cos(z)} = \dfrac{\sin(z)}{\cos^2(z)}=\tan(z)\sec(z),$$ as was to be shown. $\blacksquare$