Tan (-pi/2)=what?
1 Answer
Mar 4, 2018
See explanation
Explanation:
By the definition of tangent
tan(x)=sin(x)/cos(x)
So for
tan(-pi/2)=sin(-pi/2)/cos(-pi/2)=-1/0
Which is undefined (division by 0)
However the limit must be
lim_(x->(-pi/2)^+)=tan(x)=sin(x)/cos(x)=-oo
lim_(x->(-pi/2)^-)=tan(x)=sin(x)/cos(x)=oo
Which we also can see if we graph tangent
http://www.purplemath.com/modules/triggrph2.htm