Question

sorry, another I can't figure out

Show that (1-cot^2x)/(tan^2x-1)=cot^2x

I started by factoring both as difference of squares. Would I be better served by writing in terms of sine and cosine? Such as:

[1-(cos^2x/sin^2x)]/[(sin^2x/cos^2x)-1]=(cos^2x/sin^2x)

Answer 1

I don't think your equation is an identity,
I tried several angles and the Left Side is not equal to the Right Side.
Check your typing.

In general, I try to prove these type of identities by changing everything to sines and cosines, unless I can recognize one of the common trig relationships.

Answer 2

let me try to type it out again, my apologies.

Original problem is--Prove the following:

1- cot^2 x
----------- = cot^2 x
tan^2 x - 1

That is how the problem actually looks.