Can You Solve for Theta in the Equation sin(theta)/theta = Constant?

  • Level: Undergrad 
  • Thread starter Thread starter coolnessitself
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Constant
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
1 reply · 15K views
coolnessitself
Messages
29
Reaction score
0
sin(theta)/theta = constant

I have a value theta I am trying to solve for. Theta isn't limited to any value (it isn't an angle, actually a bunch of constants multiplied together). say I have
sin(theta)/theta = b where b is another constant. Is there any way I can solve for theta=, in terms of b? I thought of taylor expanding the left hand side but then it just gets messy and I can't have an explicit value of theta...
thanks
 
Last edited:
Mathematics news on Phys.org
Unfortunately, there is no simple solution to that problem. You can get good approximations to the solutions (plural!) by graphing or by using numerical methods.