Mathematics

Hyperbolic Functions
Table of Content

1. Definition.
2. Domain and Range of Hyperbolic Functions.
3. Graph of Real Hyperbolic Functions.
4. Formulae for Hyperbolic Functions.
5. Transformation of Hyperbolic Functions.
6. Expansion of Hyperbolic Functions.
7. Relation between Hyperbolic and Circular Functions.
8. Period of Hyperbolic Functions.
9. Inverse Hyperbolic Functions.
10. Separation of Inverse Trigonometric and Inverse
Hyperbolic Functions.

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1. Definition.

We know that parametric co-ordinates of any point on the unit circle x 2  y 2  1 is (cos , sin  ) ; so that
these functions are called circular functions and co-ordinates of any point on unit hyperbola x 2  y 2  1
 e   e  e   e  
is  ,  i.e., (cosh  , sinh  ) . It means that the relation which exists amongst cos , sin 

 2 2 
and unit circle, that relation also exist amongst cosh  , sinh  and unit hyperbola. Because of this reason
these functions are called as Hyperbolic functions.
For any (real or complex) variable quantity x,
e x  e x
(1) sinh x  [Read as 'hyperbolic sine x']
2
e x  e x
(2) cosh x  [Read as 'hyperbolic cosine x']
2
sinh x e x  e  x
(3) tanh x  
cosh x e x  e  x
cosh x e x  e  x
(4) coth x  
sinh x e x  e  x
1 2
(5) cosech x   x
sinh x e  e  x
1 2
(6) sec h x   x
cosh x e  e  x

Note: sinh 0  0, cosh 0  1, tanh 0  0

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2. Domain and Range of Hyperbolic Functions.

Let x is any real number

Function Domain Range

sinh x R R

cosh x R [1, )

tanh x R (1, 1)

coth x R0 R  [1, 1]

sech x R (0, 1]

cosech x R0 R0

3. Graph of Real Hyperbolic Functions.

(1) sinh x Y (2) cosh x

Y
(0, 1)
X X
O O

(3) tanh x Y (4) coth x Y

Y=1 y =1

O
X O X

y = –1
Y = –1

3
 Y Y

(5) cosech x (6) sech x

(0, 1)

O X O
X

4. Formulae for Hyperbolic Functions.

The following formulae can easily be established directly from above definitions

(1) Reciprocal formulae

1 1 1
(i) cosech x  (ii) sech x  (iii) coth x 
sinh x cosh x tanh x
sinh x cosh x
(iv) tanh x  (v) coth x 
cosh x sinh x

(2) Square formulae

(i) cosh 2 x  sinh 2 x  1 (ii) sec h 2 x  tanh 2 x  1
(iii) coth2 x  cosech 2 x  1 (iv) cosh 2 x  sinh 2 x  cosh 2 x

(3) Expansion or Sum and difference formulae

(i) sinh(x  y)  sinh x cosh y  cosh x sinh y (ii) cosh (x  y)  cosh x cosh y  sinh x sinh y
tanh x  tanh y
(iii) tanh (x  y) 
1  tanh x tanh y

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(4) Formulae to transform the product into sum or difference

xy x y
(i) sinh x  sinh y  2 sinh cosh
2 2

xy x y
(ii) sinh x  sinh y  2 cos h sin h
2 2

xy x y
(iii) cosh x  cosh y  2 cosh cosh
2 2

xy x y
(iv) cosh x  cosh y  2 sinh sinh
2 2

(v) 2 sinh x cosh y  sinh (x  y)  sinh (x  y)

(vi) 2 cosh x sinh y  sinh (x  y)  sinh (x  y)

(vii) 2 cosh x cosh y  cosh (x  y)  cosh (x  y)

(viii) 2 sinh x sinh y  cosh (x  y)  cosh (x  y)

(ix) cosh x  sinh x  e x

(x) cosh x  sinh x  e  x

(xi) (cosh x  sinh x )n  cosh nx  sinh nx

(5) Trigonometric ratio of multiple of an angle

2 tanh x
(i) sinh 2 x  2 sinh x cosh x =
1  tanh 2 x

1  tanh 2 x
(ii) cosh 2 x  cosh 2 x  sinh 2 x = 2 cosh 2 x  1 = 1  2 sinh 2 x =
1  tanh 2 x

(iii) 2 cosh 2 x  cosh 2 x  1

(iv) 2 sinh 2 x  cosh 2 x  1

2 tanh x
(v) tanh 2 x 
1  tanh 2 x

(vi) sinh 3 x  3 sinh x  4 sinh 3 x

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(vii) cosh 3 x  4 cosh 3 x  3 cosh x

3 tanh x  tanh 3 x
(viii) tanh 3 x 
1  3 tanh 2 x

(6)

(i) cosh x  sinh x  e x

(ii) cosh x  sinh x  e  x

(iii) (cosh x  sinh x )n  cosh nx  sinh nx

5. Transformation of a Hyperbolic Functions.

Since, cosh 2 x  sinh 2 x  1

1  sec h 2 x
 sinh x  cosh x  1 2
 sinh x 
sec h x

tanh x 1
 sinh x   sinh x 
1  tanh x 2
coth 2 x  1
1
Also, sinh x 
cosech x

In a similar manner we can express cosh x , tanh x , coth x ,................ in terms of other hyperbolic functions.

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6. Expansion of Hyperbolic Functions.

e x  e x x3 x5 x7
(1) sinh x  x    ....
2 3! 5! 7!

e x  e x x2 x4 x6
(2) cosh x  1     ....
2 2! 4 ! 6!

e x  e x x3 17 7
(3) tanh x  x
 x   2x5  x  .....
e e
x
3 315
The expansion of coth x , cosech x does not exist because coth (0)  , cosech (0)   .

7. Relation between Hyperbolic and Circular Functions.

We have from Euler formulae,

e ix  cos x  i sin x ........(i) and e ix  cos x  i sin x ........(ii)
e ix  e ix
Adding (i) and (ii)  cos x 
2
e ix  e ix
Subtracting (ii) from (i)  sin x 
2i
e x  e x
Replacing x by ix in these values, we get cos(ix)   cosh x
2
 cos(ix)  cosh x

e x  e x  e x  e x 
sin(ix)   i  

2i  2 
 sin(ix)  i sinh x

sin(ix) i sinh x
Also tan(ix)  
cos(ix) cosh x
tan(ix)  i tanh x

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 e ix  e ix
Similarly replacing x by ix in the definitions of sinh x and cosh x , we get cosh (ix)   cos x
2
sinh (ix) i sin x
Also, tanh (ix)    i tan x
cosh (ix) cos x

Thus, we obtain the following relations between hyperbolic and trigonometrical functions.

(1) sin(ix)  i sinh x (2) cos(ix)  cosh x

sinh (ix)  i sin x cosh(ix)  cos x
sinh x  i sin(ix) cosh x  cos (ix)
sin x  i sin h (ix) cos x  cos h (ix)

(3) tan(ix)  i tanh x (4) cot(ix)  i coth x

tanh(ix)  i tan x coth(ix)  i cot x
tanh x  i tan(ix) coth x  i cot(ix)
tan x  i tanh (ix) cot x  i coth(ix)
(5) sec(ix)  sechx (6) cosec (ix)  i cosech x
sec h(ix)  sec x cosech (ix)  i cosec x
sec hx  sec(ix) cosech x  i cosec (ix)
sec x  sech(ix) cosec x  i cosech (ix)

Important Tips
 For obtaining any formula given in (5)th article, use the following substitutions in the corresponding
formula for trigonometric functions.
sin x  i sinh x cos x  cosh x tan x  i tanh x

sin2 x   sinh2 x cos 2 x  cosh2 x tan 2 x   tanh 2 x

For example,
For finding out the formula for cosh 2 x in terms of tanh x , replace tan x by i tanh x and tan 2 x by tan 2 x by
 tanh 2 x in the following formula of trigonometric function of cos 2 x :
1  tan 2 x 1  tanh 2 x
cos 2 x  we get, cosh 2 x 
1  tan x
2
1  tanh 2 x

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8. Period of Hyperbolic Functions.

If for any function f (x ), f (x  T )  f (x ), then f (x ) is called the Periodic function and least positive value of T
is called the Period of the function.
 sinh x  sinh(2i  x )
cosh x  cosh(2i  x )
and tanh x  tanh(i  x )
Therefore the period of these functions are respectively 2i, 2i and i . Also period of cosech x, sech x
and coth x are respectively 2i , 2i and i .

T 
Note: Remember that if the period of f (x ) is T, then period of f (nx ) will be  .
n
Hyperbolic function are neither periodic functions nor their curves are periodic but they show the algebraic
properties of periodic functions and having imaginary period.

9. Inverse Hyperbolic Functions.

If sinh y  x , then y is called the inverse hyperbolic sine of x and it is written as y  sinh 1 x . Similarly
cosech 1 x , cosh 1 x , tanh 1 x etc. can be defined.

(1) Domain and range of Inverse hyperbolic function

Function Domain Range

sinh 1
x R R

cosh 1 x [1, ) R

tanh 1 x (1, 1) R

coth1 x R – [–1, 1] R0

sech 1 x (0, 1] R

cosech 1 x R0 R0

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(2) Relation between inverse hyperbolic function and inverse circular function
Method: Let sinh 1 x  y
 x  sinh y =  i sin(iy)  ix  sin(iy)  iy  sin 1 (ix)
 y  i sin 1 (ix)  sinh 1 x  i sin 1 (ix)

Therefore we get the following relations

(i) sinh 1 x  i sin 1 (ix)
(ii) cosh 1 x  i cos1 x
(iii) tanh 1 x  i tan 1 (ix)
(iv) sec h 1 x  i sec 1 x
(v) cosech –1 x  i cosec 1 (ix)

(3) To express any one inverse hyperbolic function in terms of the other inverse hyperbolic
functions
To express sinh 1 x in terms of the others
1 1
(i) Let sinh 1 x  y  x  sinh y  cosech y   y  cosec 1  
x x

(ii)  cosh y  1  sinh 2 y  1  x 2

 y  cosh 1 1  x 2  sinh 1 x  cosh 1 1  x 2

sinh y sinh y x
(iii)  tanh y   =
cosh y 1  sinh 2 y 1  x2

x x
 y  tanh 1  sinh 1 x  tanh 1
1 x 2
1  x2

1  sinh 2 y 1 x2
(iv)  coth y  
sinh y x

1 x2 1 x2
 y  coth1  sinh 1 x  coth1
x x

1 1 1
(v)  sec h y   
cosh y 1  sinh 2 y 1 x2

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 1 1
y  sec h 1  sinh 1 x  sec h 1
1 x2 1 x2

1
(vi) Also, sinh 1 x  cosech 1  
x

From the above, it is clear that

1
coth1 x  tanh 1  
x

1
sec h 1 x  cosh 1  
x

1
cosech 1  sinh 1  
x

Note: If x is real then all the above six inverse functions are single valued.

(4) Relation between inverse hyperbolic functions and logarithmic functions

Method:

Let sinh 1 x  y

e y  e y 2x  4 x 2  4
 x  sinh y   e 2 y  2 xe y  1  0  e y   x  x2 1
2 2
But e y  0, y and x  x 2  1

 ey  x  x 2  1  y  log(x  x 2  1 )

 sinh 1 x  log(x  x 2  1 )

By the above method we can obtain the following relations between inverse hyperbolic functions and
principal values of logarithmic functions.
(i) sinh 1 x  log(x  x 2  1 ) (  x  )

(ii) cosh 1 x  log(x  x 2  1 ) (x  1)

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 1 1  x 
(iii) tanh 1 x  log  | x|1
2 1  x 

1  x 1
(iv) coth1 x  log  | x|1
2  x 1 
1  1  x2 
(v) sec h 1 x  log  0  x 1
 x 
 
1  1  x2 
(vi) cosech 1 x  log  (x  0)
 x 
 

1
Note: Formulae for values of cosech –1 x , sec h –1 x and coth1 x may be obtained by replacing x by in the
x
values of sinh 1 x , cosh 1 x and tanh 1 x respectively.

10. Separation of Inverse Trigonometric and Inverse Hyperbolic Functions.

If sin(  i ) = x  iy then (  i ) , is called the inverse sine of (x  iy) . We can write it as,

sin 1 (x  iy)    i

Here the following results for inverse functions may be easily established.
(1)

cos 1 (x 2  y 2 )  (1  x 2  y 2 ) 2  4 x 2 y 2   cosh 1 (x 2  y 2 )  (1  x 2  y 2 ) 2  4 x 2 y 2 

1 i
cos 1 (x  iy) 
2 
 
 2  


(2) sin 1 (x  iy)   cos 1 (x  iy)
2

cos 1 (x 2  y 2 )  (1  x 2  y 2 ) 2  4 x 2 y 2   cosh 1 (x 2  y 2 )  (1  x 2  y 2 ) 2  4 x 2 y 2 
1 i
= 
 
2 2   2  

1  2x  i  2y  1  2x  i  x 2  (1  y )2 
(3) tan 1 (x  iy)  tan 1    tanh 1 
2 
 = tan 1    log 2 2
1  x  y  2 1  x  y 1  x  y  x  (1  y ) 
2 2 2 2 2
2  2  4

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(4) sin 1 (cos  i sin  )  cos 1 ( sin  )  i sinh 1 ( sin  ) or cos 1 ( sin  )  i log( sin   1  sin  )

(5) cos 1 (cos  i sin  )  sin 1 ( sin  )  i sinh 1 ( sin  ) or sin 1 ( sin  )  i log( sin   1  sin  )

 i  1  sin  
(6) tan 1 (cos  i sin  )   log  , (cos )  0
4 4  1  sin  
  1  1  sin  
and tan 1 (cos  i sin  )      log  , (cos )  0
 4 4  1  sin  
Since each inverse hyperbolic function can be expressed in terms of logarithmic function, therefore for
separation into real and imaginary parts of inverse hyperbolic function of complex quantities use the
appropriate method.

Note: Both inverse circular and inverse hyperbolic functions are many valued.

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