<s>[INST] How do I prove this seemingly simple trigonometric identity $$a = \sin\theta+\sin\phi\\b=\tan\theta+\tan\phi\\c=\sec\theta+\sec\phi$$
Show that,   $8bc=a[4b^2 + (b^2-c^2)^2]$
I tried to solve this for hours and have gotten no-where. Here's what I've got so far :
$$
\\a= 2\sin(\frac{\theta+\phi}{2})\cos(\frac{\theta-\phi}{2})
\\ b = \frac{2\sin(\theta+\phi)}{\cos(\theta+\phi)+\cos(\theta-\phi)}
\\c=\frac{2(\cos\theta+\cos\phi)}{\cos(\theta+\phi)+\cos(\theta-\phi)}
\\a^2 = \frac{\sin^2(\theta+\phi)[\cos(\theta+\phi)+1]}{\cos(\theta+\phi)+1}\\\cos(\theta-\phi)=\frac{ca}{b}-1\\\sin^2(\frac{\theta+\phi}{2})=\frac{2a^2b}{4(ca+b)}$$
 [/INST] Hint: Divide both sides of $8bc=a[4b^2 + (b^2-c^2)^2]$ by $bc$. You will end up with this:
$$8 = a[4\frac{b}{c}+bc(\frac{b}{c}-\frac{c}{b})^2]$$ 
Take the RHS and you can prove that it is equal to 8.
Process: Calculate $\frac{b}{c}$ from the given equations. 
$$b = \frac{\sin (\theta + \phi)}{\cos \theta. \cos \phi}$$
$$c = \frac{\cos \theta + \cos \phi}{\cos \theta. \cos \phi}$$
$$\frac{b}{c} = \frac{2\sin(\frac{\theta + \phi}{2}).\cos(\frac{\theta + \phi}{2})}{2\cos(\frac{\theta + \phi}{2}).\cos(\frac{\theta - \phi}{2})}$$
$$\frac{b}{c} =  \frac{\sin(\frac{\theta + \phi}{2})}{\cos(\frac{\theta - \phi}{2})}$$
You will end up with:
$$\frac{b}{c}-\frac{c}{b}=-\frac{\cos \theta. \cos \phi}{\cos(\frac{\theta - \phi}{2}).sin(\frac{\theta + \phi}{2})}$$
$$bc(\frac{b}{c}-\frac{c}{b})^2 = \frac{\sin (\theta + \phi)(\cos \theta + \cos \phi)}{\cos^2 \theta. \cos^2 \phi}\frac{\cos^2 \theta. \cos^2 \phi}{\cos^2(\frac{\theta - \phi}{2}).\sin^2(\frac{\theta + \phi}{2})}$$
$$ = \frac{2\sin(\frac{\theta + \phi}{2}).\cos(\frac{\theta + \phi}{2})2\cos(\frac{\theta + \phi}{2}).\cos(\frac{\theta - \phi}{2})}{\cos^2(\frac{\theta - \phi}{2}).\sin^2(\frac{\theta + \phi}{2})}$$
$$ = \frac{4\cos^2 (\frac{\theta + \phi}{2})}{\cos(\frac{\theta - \phi}{2})\sin (\frac{\theta + \phi}{2})}$$
$$4\frac{b}{c} + bc(\frac{b}{c}-\frac{c}{b})^2 = \frac{4}{\cos (\frac{\theta - \phi}{2})}(\sin(\frac{\theta + \phi}{2})+\frac{\cos^2 (\frac{\theta + \phi}{2})}{\sin(\frac{\theta + \phi}{2})})$$
$$= \frac{4}{\cos (\frac{\theta - \phi}{2})\sin(\frac{\theta + \phi}{2})}$$
$$a[4\frac{b}{c} + bc(\frac{b}{c}-\frac{c}{b})^2] = 4\frac{\sin \theta + \sin \phi}{\cos (\frac{\theta - \phi}{2})\sin(\frac{\theta + \phi}{2})}$$
$$ = 4\frac{2\cos (\frac{\theta - \phi}{2})\sin(\frac{\theta + \phi}{2})}{\cos (\frac{\theta - \phi}{2})\sin(\frac{\theta + \phi}{2})}$$
$$= 8$$
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