Are My Trigonometric Identity Solutions Correct?

  • Thread starter Thread starter thakid87
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Identity
AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on verifying solutions to various trigonometric identities. The user expresses uncertainty primarily about problems 2 and 4, with some confidence in the others. Feedback highlights errors in the manipulation of expressions, particularly in problem 2, where a misunderstanding of secant and cosine leads to incorrect conclusions. Problem 4 also requires clarification on the use of identities, specifically regarding the relationship between secant and cosine. Overall, the conversation emphasizes the importance of careful algebraic manipulation in solving trigonometric identities.
thakid87
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
I'm having difficulties with a few identity problems and I wanted to make sure I'm doing the ones I believe I did correctly, correctly...

1. (cos^3x)+(sin^2x)(cosx)
(cosx)(cos^2x)+(sin^2x)(cosx)
2cosx

2. (1+cosy)/(1+secy)
(1+cosy)/(1+1/cosy)
(1+cosy)/(1+cosy)
1

3. (tanx)/(secx)
(sinx/cosx)/(1/cosx)
(sinx/cosx)(cosx)
sinx

4.(secx-cosx)/(tanx)
(secx-cosx)(cosx/sinx)
(1/sinx)-(cos^2x/sinx)
(1-cos^2x)/(sinx)
(1/sinx)
cscx

5.(sinx/cscx)+(cosx/secx)
(sinx/1/sinx)+(cosx/1/cosx)
(sinxsinx)+(cosxcosx)
sin^2x+cos^2x
1

6. (1+sinx/cosx)+(cosx/1+sinx)
(1+sinx/1+sinx0(1+sinx/cosx)+(cosx/cosx)(cosx/1+sinx)
(1+2sinx+sin^2x+cos^2x)/(1+sinx)(cosx)
(2+2sinx)/(1+sinx)(cosx)
(2+sinx)/(cosx)
2tanx

7. (tanx)(cosx)(cscx)
(sinx/cosx)(cosx)(1/sinx)
1

The ones that I'm not too sure about are 2 and 8. I feel pretty confident about the other ones, but I wanted to make sure I'm doing them correctly.

Thanks a lot to anybody that helps.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
For 2
thakid87 said:
2. (1+cosy)/(1+secy)
(1+cosy)/(1+1/cosy)
(1+cosy)/(1+cosy)
1

From the text in red, multiply both the numerator and denominator by cosy


I don't see a question 8...the only one that looked wrong at a glance was 2.
 
First, you did not put a #8 up so I guess you are confident about that one lol.

I didn't look at #6 b/c my eyes are tired, but you will want to check 2 and 4!

for #2 you have that 1+(1/cos(y)) = 1 + cos(y) ! since when is that true. instead, you should multiply the numerator and denominator by cos(y) then see what you get.

#4 the hint is to look at what 1 - (cos(x))^2 is
 
thakid87 said:
I'm having difficulties with a few identity problems and I wanted to make sure I'm doing the ones I believe I did correctly, correctly...

1. (cos^3x)+(sin^2x)(cosx)
(cosx)(cos^2x)+(sin^2x)(cosx)
2cosx
Where did you get the "2"?

(cosx)(cos^2x)+ (sin^2x)(cosx)= cos(x)(cos^2x+ sin^2x).

2. (1+cosy)/(1+secy)
(1+cosy)/(1+1/cosy)
(1+cosy)/(1+cosy)
How did you make this jump? 1/cosy is NOT equal to cos y.

3. (tanx)/(secx)
(sinx/cosx)/(1/cosx)
(sinx/cosx)(cosx)
sinx
Yes, that's right.

4.(secx-cosx)/(tanx)
(secx-cosx)(cosx/sinx)
(1/sinx)-(cos^2x/sinx)
You've got your parenthes wrong. Also sec x= 1/cosx not 1/sin x
(1/cosx- cosx)(cos(x)/sin(x)= (1/cox)(cosx/sinx)- cos^2x/sinx= 1/sinx- cos^2x/sinx
= (1- cos^2x)/sinx

5.(sinx/cscx)+(cosx/secx)
(sinx/1/sinx)+(cosx/1/cosx)
(sinxsinx)+(cosxcosx)
sin^2x+cos^2x
1
Yes, that's correct.

6. (1+sinx/cosx)+(cosx/1+sinx)
Again, you are not being careful with parentheses. I think you mean
(1+ sinx)/cosx+ cosx/(1+ sin(x)) bit what you wrote is 1+ (sinx/cosx)+ cosx+ sin(x).

(1+sinx/1+sinx0(1+sinx/cosx)+(cosx/cosx)(cosx/1+sinx)[/quuote]
Now this is just much too complicated and without parentheses impossible to understand!

(1+2sinx+sin^2x+cos^2x)/(1+sinx)(cosx)
(2+2sinx)/(1+sinx)(cosx)
(2+sinx)/(cosx)
??What happened to the "1+ sinx" in the denominator? 2+ 2sinx= 2(1+ sinx) in the numerator and then you can cancel with the "1+ sinx" in the numerator:
= 2/cosx


7. (tanx)(cosx)(cscx)
(sinx/cosx)(cosx)(1/sinx)
1
yes, that is correct.

The ones that I'm not too sure about are 2 and 8. I feel pretty confident about the other ones, but I wanted to make sure I'm doing them correctly.

Thanks a lot to anybody that helps.
 
I picked up this problem from the Schaum's series book titled "College Mathematics" by Ayres/Schmidt. It is a solved problem in the book. But what surprised me was that the solution to this problem was given in one line without any explanation. I could, therefore, not understand how the given one-line solution was reached. The one-line solution in the book says: The equation is ##x \cos{\omega} +y \sin{\omega} - 5 = 0##, ##\omega## being the parameter. From my side, the only thing I could...
Back
Top