Trigonometry
Intermediate

Cotangent

Reciprocal of tangent.

Formula

cot⁡θ=1tan⁡θ=cos⁡θsin⁡θ\cot\theta = \frac{1}{\tan\theta} = \frac{\cos\theta}{\sin\theta}

Variables

\thetaAngle

Example

cot 45° = 1

Did You Know?

Ancient sundial makers effectively used the cotangent to relate a gnomon's height to its shadow length.

cotangentreciprocal