How would you show that one trigonometric expression is equal to another? I’m not exactly sure how to start.

Answer 1

start by using the most basic identities:
tanx=sinx/cosx
sin^2x + cos^2x = 1

by dividing by cos^2x you get

tan^2x+1 = sec^2x

divide by sin^2x and you get

1+cot^2x = csc^2x

There should be a section in your text covering trig identities. It will start out with simple ones like these and move on to more complicated ones.

Answer 2

Okay, thank you Steve!