HP49-50G : tan(x) 50% faster than sin(x) or cos(x)

[John Keith]

Similar differences in execution time apply to the 71B, 28 and 48 series which all use the Saturn processor.
I would guess that the same is true in Home mode on the Prime as its math functions are based on those of the Saturn-based calculators.

I am not familiar with the internal algorithms used for the various math functions but I imagine that there are some folks here that have that knowledge and hopefully they will chime in. The intrepidly curious could use Nosy to examine the internal functions although I get the impression that the code is anything but straightforward.