Derivative of cotangent

Theorem

The following formula holds: $$\dfrac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}z}\cot(z)=-\csc^2(z),$$ where $\cot$ denotes the cotangent and $\csc$ denotes the cosecant.

Proof

Apply the quotient rule to the definition of cotangent using derivative of sine and derivative of cosine to see $$\begin{array}{ll} \dfrac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}z} \cot(z) &= \dfrac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}x} \left[ \dfrac{\cos(z)}{\sin(z)} \right] \\ &= \dfrac{-\sin^2(z)-\cos^2(z)}{\sin^2(z)} \\ &= -\dfrac{\sin^2(z)+\cos^2(z)}{\sin^2(z)}. \end{array}$$ Now apply the Pythagorean identity for sin and cos and the definition of cosecant to see $$\dfrac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}z} \cot(z) = -\dfrac{1}{\sin^2(z)} = -\csc^2(z),$$ as was to be shown. █

References

• 1964: {{ #if: |{{{2}}}|Milton Abramowitz}}{{#if: Irene A. Stegun|{{#if: |, {{ #if: |{{{2}}}|Irene A. Stegun}}{{#if: |, [[Mathematician:{{{author3}}}|{{ #if: |{{{2}}}|{{{author3}}}}}]]{{#if: |, [[Mathematician:{{{author4}}}|{{ #if: |{{{2}}}|{{{author4}}}}}]]{{#if: |, [[Mathematician:{{{author5}}}|{{ #if: |{{{2}}}|{{{author5}}}}}]] and [[Mathematician:{{{author6}}}|{{ #if: |{{{2}}}|{{{author6}}}}}]]| and [[Mathematician:{{{author5}}}|{{ #if: |{{{2}}}|{{{author5}}}}}]]}}| and [[Mathematician:{{{author4}}}|{{ #if: |{{{2}}}|{{{author4}}}}}]]}}| and [[Mathematician:{{{author3}}}|{{ #if: |{{{2}}}|{{{author3}}}}}]]}}| and {{ #if: |{{{2}}}|Irene A. Stegun}}}}|}}: [[Book:Milton Abramowitz/Handbook of mathematical functions{{#if: |/Volume {{{volume}}}|}}{{#if: |/{{{edpage}}}}}|Handbook of mathematical functions{{#if: |: Volume {{{volume}}}|}}{{#if: |: {{{eddisplay}}}|{{#if: | ({{{ed}}} ed.)}}}}]]{{#if: | (translated by [[Mathematician:{{{translated}}}|{{ #if: |{{{2}}}|{{{translated}}}}}]])}}{{#if: |, {{{publisher}}}|}}{{#if: |, ISBN {{{isbn}}}|}}{{#if: Derivative of secant | ... (previous)|}}{{#if: findme | ... (next)|}}{{#if: |: Entry: {{#if: |[[{{{entryref}}}|{{{entry}}}]]|{{{entry}}}}}|}}: $4.3.110$