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Double Angle Sine⚠ unverified

Trigonometry / Identities · Sine of a double angle

Labeled diagram for Double Angle Sine

Parameters

InputSymbolUnitDefaultDescription
AAdegree30Angle
OutputSymbolUnitDescription
ssin 2A—sin 2A

The science & history

Understanding the Parameters

How to Calculate

  1. Enter Angle as A (default 30 degree). Use the unit menu when you need a different unit.
  2. Click Calculate. The card evaluates $\sin 2A=2\sin A\cos A$ and shows the result in the declared output unit; Result in (when present) converts that number.

The Science: A Rigorous Derivation (Approaching a Proof)

The addition formulae $\sin(A\pm B)$, $\cos(A\pm B)$ are the angle-addition law of rotations: the matrix $\begin{pmatrix}\cos A&-\sin A\\\sin A&\cos A\end{pmatrix}$ multiplies. Double- and half-angle formulae are the $B=A$ and Weierstrass specialisations. They are identities — true for all $A,B$ where defined — so a calculator that evaluates them is a numerical check and a convenient rewriter, not a solver of a triangle.

Dimensional check. The declared output unit is dimensionless; ToolBox evaluates the formula in SI (radians internally for every trigonometric call) and python-calc converts to the unit on the card.

History and Development

Ptolemy's theorem of chords is the cosine addition formula. The full set is in Euler and in every 18th-century analysis book. Prosthaphaeresis (product-to-sum) was a 16th-century multiplication algorithm before logarithms; it is the same identity used backwards.

Related Concepts: Sin A Plus B, Sin A Minus B, Cos A Plus B, Cos A Minus B, Tan A Plus B, Double Angle Cosine, Double Angle Tangent, Half Angle Sine

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