The same inequality, but two equivalent ways to express it

In summary, the conversation discusses the concept of equivalent intervals for measuring angles around a unit circle. The speaker provides a hint for finding the transformation between the two intervals and an analogy of marking a tennis court to illustrate the concept. The conversation ends with the speaker stating that the issue has been resolved.
  • #1
mcastillo356
Gold Member
560
267
TL;DR Summary
I've been wondering why ##0\leq{\theta}<2\pi## is equal to ##-\pi<\theta'\leq{\pi}##, but no way. I've been given the right answer, but still don't know how to move from one to another.
I've been given this answer: to move from negative to positive angles, ##-\theta'=2\pi-\theta##; and to move from positive to negative angles, ##\theta'=\theta-2\pi##. But my question is if there is any way to calculate it in a sequence of inequalities' steps.
If I am being cumbersome, forgive me.
Greetings
 
Mathematics news on Phys.org
  • #2
Imagine a unit circle. If you measure angles by ##0\leq \theta < 2\pi## then you start at ##(1,0)## and walk around once. If you measure angles by ##-\pi\leq \theta' < \pi## then you start at ##(-1,0)## and walk around once. The appropriate set up depends on the question asked, the way you want to scale your figures.

If you measure the miles between Chicago and Los Angeles, then do you say mile ##0## is in Chicago, or is it in New York and Chicago would have mile ##789##? It is up to you and there is no right and wrong. At best there it's convenient and inconvenient.
 
  • Like
  • Informative
Likes hutchphd, sysprog and mcastillo356
  • #3
mcastillo356 said:
Summary:: I've been wondering why ##0\leq{\theta}<2\pi## is equal to ##-\pi<\theta'\leq{\pi}##, but no way. I've been given the right answer, but still don't know how to move from one to another.

I've been given this answer: to move from negative to positive angles, ##-\theta'=2\pi-\theta##; and to move from positive to negative angles, ##\theta'=\theta-2\pi##. But my question is if there is any way to calculate it in a sequence of inequalities' steps.
If I am being cumbersome, forgive me.
Greetings
These two intervals are not "equal", but they are "equivalent", in the sense that you can choose either as a half-open interval of length ##2\pi##. And thus serve as a domain for the angle around one complete circle.

You can find the transformation by considering ##\theta' = a\theta + b##, for some constants ##a, b##.

Hint: the transformation is almost, but not quite, simply ##\theta' = \theta - \pi##.
 
  • Informative
  • Like
Likes mcastillo356 and sysprog
  • #4
another way to look at it:

In both cases from a unit circle perspective, the endpoints are the same angle and so there's no need to include that angle twice in the set of angles defined by the semi open interval.
 
  • Informative
  • Like
Likes mcastillo356 and sysprog
  • #5
fresh_42 said:
Imagine a unit circle. If you measure angles by ##0\leq \theta < 2\pi## then you start at ##(1,0)## and walk around once. If you measure angles by ##-\pi\leq \theta' < \pi## then you start at ##(-1,0)## and walk around once. The appropriate set up depends on the question asked, the way you want to scale your figures.

If you measure the miles between Chicago and Los Angeles, then do you say mile ##0## is in Chicago, or is it in New York and Chicago would have mile ##789##? It is up to you and there is no right and wrong. At best there it's convenient and inconvenient.
Fine, fresh_42, I did not manage to see it so graphically, until you've told it.

PeroK said:
These two intervals are not "equal", but they are "equivalent", in the sense that you can choose either as a half-open interval of length ##2\pi##. And thus serve as a domain for the angle around one complete circle.

You can find the transformation by considering ##\theta' = a\theta + b##, for some constants ##a, b##.

Hint: the transformation is almost, but not quite, simply ##\theta' = \theta - \pi##.
The hint is definite. I feel quite dummy. Perfect.

jedishrfu said:
another way to look at it:

In both cases from a unit circle perspective, the endpoints are the same angle and so there's no need to include that angle twice in the set of angles defined by the semi open interval.
That's the way I look it: why must I consider ##-\pi\leq \theta' < \pi## interval, instead of ##0\leq \theta < 2\pi##?; it's because I must avoid integer multiples of ##2\pi##. This question is understood in the context of complex numbers, just to calculate the main phase, the main argument, of any complex number. But I still don't know what is all about: ##2\pi## doesn't appear in ##0\leq \theta < 2\pi##.
 
  • #6
mcastillo356 said:
That's the way I look it: why must I consider ##-\pi\leq \theta' < \pi## interval, instead of ##0\leq \theta < 2\pi##?; it's because I must avoid integer multiples of ##2\pi##. This question is understood in the context of complex numbers, just to calculate the main phase, the main argument, of any complex number. But I still don't know what is all about: ##2\pi## doesn't appear in ##0\leq \theta < 2\pi##.
Ummm, zero is an integer multiple of ##2\pi##.
 
  • #7
mcastillo356 said:
Fine, fresh_42, I did not manage to see it so graphically, until you've told it.The hint is definite. I feel quite dummy. Perfect.That's the way I look it: why must I consider ##-\pi\leq \theta' < \pi## interval, instead of ##0\leq \theta < 2\pi##?; it's because I must avoid integer multiples of ##2\pi##. This question is understood in the context of complex numbers, just to calculate the main phase, the main argument, of any complex number. But I still don't know what is all about: ##2\pi## doesn't appear in ##0\leq \theta < 2\pi##.
You are over-thinking this. Imagine you have a tennis court, which is 24m long, and you want to mark it out every metre. You have a choice:

1) You could start making one baseline ##0m##, then mark a line every metre, with the net being at ##12m## and the second baseline at ##24m##. In summary, you have maked out the court from ##0-24m##.

Or

2) You could mark the net as ##0m## and mark the lines on one side from ##1m## to ##12m## towards one baseline, then from ##-1m## to ##-12m## towards the other baseline. In summary, you have marked out the court from ##-12m## to ##12m##.

Conceptually, that is all there is to it. With a circle, of course, you imagine the two baselines touching. In the first case ##0m \equiv 24m## and in the second case ##-12m \equiv +12m##.
 
  • Like
Likes mcastillo356 and jbriggs444
  • #8
Sorry, jbriggs444, I meant multiples of ##2\pi##, ## \dots, \theta-4\pi, \theta -2\pi, \theta, \theta+2\pi, \theta+4\pi, \dots ##.
PeroK, thank you! The analogy is simply perfect.
Trouble solved. Greetings!
 
  • #9
mcastillo356 said:
Sorry, jbriggs444, I meant multiples of ##2\pi##, ## \dots, \theta-4\pi, \theta -2\pi, \theta, \theta+2\pi, \theta+4\pi, \dots ##.
PeroK, thank you! The analogy is simply perfect.
Trouble solved. Greetings!
I'm not sure I understand. If you mean ##2\pi \le \theta < 4\pi##, then there is no advantage of that instead of simply ##0 \le \theta < 2\pi##. In general, you would expect ##0## to lie in your interval: either at the beginning or in the middle.

There's no right or wrong here, only what should seem natural and convenient.
 
  • #10
Hi PeroK! If ##w=a+bi\neq{0}##, then every value of ##\mbox{arg}(w)## differ in a integer multiple of ##2\pi##. The symbol ##\mbox{arg}(w)## its not just a number, its a set of numbers. When we write ##\mbox{arg}(w)=\theta##, we mean the set of ##\mbox{arg}(w)## includes every number like ##\theta+2k\pi##, ##k\in{\mathbb{K}}##.
Sometimes is convenient to restrict ##\theta=\mbox{arg}(w)## to an interval of range ##2\pi##, this is, the interval ##0\leq \theta < 2\pi##, or ##-\pi\leq \theta' < \pi##. This way, the complex numbers different to zero will have a unique phase or argument.
Does it make sense now? :confused:
 
  • #11
The phrasing that I was taught for this sort of thing is that we have an "equivalence class" of values that each differ from one another by various integer multiples of ##2\pi##. Instead of a set of values, we have a set of equivalence classes of values.

But because it is clumsy to talk about equivalence classes, we choose to denote each equivalence class by a particular member, an "exemplar", of that class.

The problem at hand seems to be finding a convenient set of exemplars and knowing when two sets of exemplars are identical when understood as two sets of equivalence classes.
 
  • Like
  • Informative
Likes mcastillo356 and PeroK
  • #12
mcastillo356 said:
Hi PeroK! If ##w=a+bi\neq{0}##, then every value of ##\mbox{arg}(w)## differ in a integer multiple of ##2\pi##. The symbol ##\mbox{arg}(w)## its not just a number, its a set of numbers. When we write ##\mbox{arg}(w)=\theta##, we mean the set of ##\mbox{arg}(w)## includes every number like ##\theta+2k\pi##, ##k\in{\mathbb{K}}##.
Sometimes is convenient to restrict ##\theta=\mbox{arg}(w)## to an interval of range ##2\pi##, this is, the interval ##0\leq \theta < 2\pi##, or ##-\pi\leq \theta' < \pi##. This way, the complex numbers different to zero will have a unique phase or argument.
Does it make sense now? :confused:
Yes, that's all there is to it. It's not complicated.
 
  • Like
Likes mcastillo356
  • #13
jbriggs444, Hi, for every angle in the interval ##0\leq \theta < 2\pi## (or equivalently ##-\pi\leq \theta' < \pi##), I am going to guess: each angle of the first circumference might be an equivalence class. But I know nothing more.
 
  • #14
mcastillo356 said:
jbriggs444, Hi, for every angle in the interval ##0\leq \theta < 2\pi## (or equivalently ##-\pi\leq \theta' < \pi##), I am going to guess: each angle of the first circumference might be an equivalence class. But I know nothing more.
The model of equivalence classes is a bit far fetched in this context in my opinion, especially as you seem to think about trigonometric functions, which are defined on the entire real number line, and equivalence classes are nowhere even near. Of course one can define ##\alpha \sim \beta :\Longleftrightarrow \alpha-\beta \in (2\pi)\cdot\mathbb{Z}##, which is an equivalence relation, and factor the real number line along these classes to get the unit circle: ##\mathbb{R}/\sim \;\cong S^1##, but I doubt this is helpful at this level of discussion.
 
  • Like
Likes mcastillo356
  • #15
Hi fresh_42, yes, this level (my level) is very low
 

1. What is the same inequality expressed in two different ways?

The same inequality expressed in two different ways refers to an equation or inequality that can be written in two different forms that are equivalent to each other. This means that both forms have the same solution or satisfy the same conditions.

2. Why would an inequality be expressed in two equivalent ways?

An inequality may be expressed in two equivalent ways for various reasons. One reason could be to simplify the equation or make it easier to solve. Another reason could be to show different aspects or perspectives of the same problem.

3. How can I determine if two expressions are equivalent?

To determine if two expressions are equivalent, you can compare their solutions. If both expressions have the same solution or satisfy the same conditions, then they are equivalent. You can also use algebraic manipulations to transform one expression into the other, which will also prove their equivalence.

4. Can two equivalent expressions have different forms?

Yes, two equivalent expressions can have different forms. For example, an inequality can be expressed in both fraction and decimal form, but they will still be equivalent as long as they have the same solution.

5. How can understanding equivalent expressions help in solving inequalities?

Understanding equivalent expressions can help in solving inequalities by providing different ways to approach a problem. If one form of the inequality is difficult to solve, you can try transforming it into another form that may be easier to work with. It also allows for a deeper understanding of the problem and its solutions.

Similar threads

Replies
13
Views
3K
Replies
2
Views
1K
  • General Math
Replies
20
Views
1K
Replies
1
Views
732
  • Calculus
Replies
29
Views
724
Replies
7
Views
2K
  • Introductory Physics Homework Help
Replies
2
Views
635
  • Introductory Physics Homework Help
Replies
4
Views
816
Replies
3
Views
1K
Replies
17
Views
3K
Back
Top