Draw a right triangle with angle x, hypotenuse 1, and legs "a" and "b" Since , that's because by the Pythagorean theorem, a2+b2=1 Multiply top and bottom by a2b2 We multiply out the denominator, Since a2+b2=1, The denominator factors Multiply by the product of the "conjugates" of the factors on the bottom over itself. (Sort of like rationalizing the denominator) By the Pythagorean theorem 1-a2=b2 and 1-b2=a2 Canceling: Since a = sin(x) and b = cos(x) <--simplest form Edwin