The compound angle formula can be proved using simple trigonometry. Consider the right angled triangle below with internal right angled triangles constructed with internal anglesand
With sides labelledandas shown below,
we can find sides in terms of x and h.
Thenand
By labelling extra angles as below,
we deduce that
Equating these expressions for x gives
Substituteto give
h now cancels from both sides to give