What is the derivative of cot(x)?

The correct answer to this question is -−csc 2 x. cot(x) stands for cotangent. cot(x) stands for cotangent. Out of the many derivatives that there are to find, cot(x) can be one of the hardest.

This is in comparison to the derivatives of sine and cosine, which are easier to find and more known. There are two steps to finding the derivative of cot(x). The first step is to use the identities of trigonometry to use sine and cosine to express cotangent.

Some identities of include trigonometry tan(x) = sin(x) / cos(x) csc(x) = 1 / sin(x) sec(x) = 1 / cos(x). The second step is to use the quotient rule to find the derivative from the ratio from step one.