Are My Trigonometric Identity Solutions Correct?

  • Thread starter Thread starter thakid87
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Identity
Click For Summary

Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around verifying solutions to trigonometric identity problems. The original poster presents several identities they have worked on, expressing uncertainty about the correctness of their solutions, particularly for problems 2 and 8.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants examine the steps taken by the original poster in solving the identities, questioning specific transformations and assumptions made in the process. There are suggestions to multiply by certain terms to clarify the identities.

Discussion Status

Some participants have provided feedback on specific identities, particularly highlighting potential errors in problems 2 and 4. There is an ongoing exploration of the reasoning behind the transformations used in the identities, with no consensus reached yet on the correctness of the solutions.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the absence of a problem 8 and express confusion over the notation and parentheses used in some of the identities, indicating a need for clarity in the original poster's expressions.

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.
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K
Replies
5
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
2K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
5K
Replies
10
Views
2K
Replies
11
Views
36K
  • · Replies 28 ·
Replies
28
Views
5K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K