Correcting Resolutions: Is it Right?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the correctness of resolutions for two mathematical problems involving trigonometric identities and algebraic manipulations. Participants explore various methods to solve the equations, including squaring terms, applying Pythagorean identities, and proposing alternative approaches.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant presents an equation involving sine and cosine, suggesting a squaring method to derive further identities.
  • Another participant proposes an algebraic approach to find the value of a variable, questioning the correctness of previous algebraic steps.
  • Some participants reiterate the squaring method and apply Pythagorean identities, leading to different interpretations of the results.
  • A later reply introduces a linear combination approach to express the sine and cosine terms, suggesting a transformation to simplify the problem.
  • Another participant points out a potential error in algebraic manipulation, emphasizing the need to check calculations carefully.
  • Some participants explore the implications of the results, discussing the conditions under which certain roots should be taken based on the range of x.
  • One participant provides a more general solution that avoids trigonometric equations, proposing a substitution method to derive sine values directly.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the correctness of the algebraic manipulations and the application of identities. There is no consensus on the final resolutions, as multiple competing methods and interpretations are presented throughout the discussion.

Contextual Notes

Some participants note limitations in their approaches, such as assumptions about the ranges of sine and cosine, and the dependency on specific algebraic steps that may not have been fully resolved.

Who May Find This Useful

Readers interested in trigonometric identities, algebraic manipulation, and problem-solving techniques in mathematics may find this discussion beneficial.

squexy
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Could anyone tell me if the resolutions of these questions are correct?View attachment 3754

Cosx = 4/3 - sin x

Six - 4/3 - Sin x = 0
2 Sinx = 4/3
Sinx = 4/6

Cosx = 4/3 - 4/6
Cosx = 8/6 - 4/6
Cosx = 4/6
View attachment 3755

G(x) = 5x + 1
5*(px+2)+1
5px + p = 5px + 10+ 1
p = 11
 

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For the first one, I would begin with the given:

$$\sin(x)+\cos(x)=\frac{4}{3}$$

Square it:

$$\sin^2(x)+2\sin(x)\cos(x)+\cos^2(x)=\frac{16}{9}$$

Apply a Pythagorean identity:

$$2\sin(x)\cos(x)+1=\frac{16}{9}$$

$$2\sin(x)\cos(x)=\frac{7}{9}$$

Now, let:

$$\sin(x)-\cos(x)=a$$

Square this, apply a Pythagorean identity, use the result above, and take the appropriate root for $a$...what do you find?
 
For the second problem, we find:

$$f(g(x))=-p(5x+1)+2$$

$$g(f(x))=5(-px+2)+1$$

Hence:

$$-p(5x+1)+2=5(-px+2)+1$$

Solving for $p$, what do you find?
 
MarkFL said:
For the first one, I would begin with the given:

$$\sin(x)+\cos(x)=\frac{4}{3}$$

Square it:

$$\sin^2(x)+2\sin(x)\cos(x)+\cos^2(x)=\frac{16}{9}$$

Apply a Pythagorean identity:

$$2\sin(x)\cos(x)+1=\frac{16}{9}$$

$$2\sin(x)\cos(x)=\frac{7}{9}$$

Now, let:

$$\sin(x)-\cos(x)=a$$

Square this, apply a Pythagorean identity, use the result above, and take the appropriate root for $a$...what do you find?
Sin^2 x -2(sinx . cosx) + cos^2(x)= a^2

-2(sinx . cosx) + 1= a^2
- 2(six . cosx) = a^2 - 1
7/9 = - a^2 + 1
7/ 9 -9/9 = a^2
2/9 = -a^2
a = √-2/9

MarkFL said:
For the second problem, we find:

$$f(g(x))=-p(5x+1)+2$$

$$g(f(x))=5(-px+2)+1$$

Hence:

$$-p(5x+1)+2=5(-px+2)+1$$

Solving for $p$, what do you find?

-5px - p = -5px +10 + 1
- p = 11
p = - 11
 
For the first one, you get to:

$$a^2=\frac{2}{9}$$

Observing that on $$0\le x\le\frac{\pi}{4}$$ we have:

$$\cos(x)\ge\sin(x)\implies 0\ge\sin(x)-\cos(x)$$ we then know we have to take the negative root:

$$a=-\frac{\sqrt{2}}{3}$$

For the second one, check your algebra...your result is incorrect as you forgot about the 2 on the left side.
 
MarkFL said:
For the first one, you get to:

$$a^2=\frac{2}{9}$$

Observing that on $$0\le x\le\frac{\pi}{4}$$ we have:

$$\cos(x)\ge\sin(x)\implies 0\ge\sin(x)-\cos(x)$$ we then know we have to take the negative root:

$$a=-\frac{\sqrt{2}}{3}$$

For the second one, check your algebra...your result is incorrect as you forgot about the 2 on the left side.
-5px - p +2 = -5px +10 + 1
- p = 9
p = - 9
 
squexy said:
-5px - p +2 = -5px +10 + 1
- p = 9
p = - 9

Yes, that's correct. (Yes)
 
squexy said:
´
Could anyone tell me if the resolutions of these questions are correct?View attachment 3754

Cosx = 4/3 - sin x

Six - 4/3 - Sin x = 0
2 Sinx = 4/3
Sinx = 4/6

Cosx = 4/3 - 4/6
Cosx = 8/6 - 4/6
Cosx = 4/6
View attachment 3755

G(x) = 5x + 1
5*(px+2)+1
5px + p = 5px + 10+ 1
p = 11

As an alternative to Question 1, it is possible to write a linear combination $\displaystyle \begin{align*} a\sin{(x)} + b\cos{(x)} = c\sin{ \left( x + \varphi \right) } \end{align*}$, where $\displaystyle \begin{align*} c = \sqrt{a^2 + b^2} \end{align*}$. Don't believe me? Well in your case, $\displaystyle \begin{align*} a = b = 1 \end{align*}$, so $\displaystyle \begin{align*} c = \sqrt{1^2 + 1^2} = \sqrt{2} \end{align*}$. Thus

$\displaystyle \begin{align*} \sqrt{2}\sin{ \left( x + \varphi \right) } &= \sin{(x)} + \cos{(x)} \\ \sqrt{2} \left[ \sin{(x)}\cos{(\varphi )} + \cos{(x)} \sin{ \left( \varphi \right) } \right] &= \sin{(x)} + \cos{(x)} \\ \sqrt{2}\sin{(x)}\cos{(\varphi )} + \sqrt{2}\cos{(x)}\sin{(\varphi )} &= \sin{(x)} + \cos{(x)} \end{align*}$

So that means $\displaystyle \begin{align*} \sqrt{2}\cos{ (\varphi )} = 1 \end{align*}$ and $\displaystyle \begin{align*} \sqrt{2}\sin{( \varphi )} = 1 \end{align*}$. It should be pretty obvious then that $\displaystyle \begin{align*} \varphi = \frac{\pi}{4} \end{align*}$.

Thus $\displaystyle \begin{align*} \sin{(x)} + \cos{(x)} = \sqrt{2} \sin{ \left( x + \frac{\pi}{4} \right) } \end{align*}$. So now we should be able to solve the problem...

$\displaystyle \begin{align*} \sin{(x)} + \cos{(x)} &= \frac{4}{3} \\ \sqrt{2} \sin{ \left( x + \frac{\pi}{4} \right) } &= \frac{4}{3} \\ \sin{ \left( x + \frac{\pi}{4} \right) } &= \frac{4}{3\,\sqrt{2}} \\ \sin{ \left( x + \frac{\pi}{4} \right) } &= \frac{ 4\,\sqrt{2}}{3 \cdot 2 } \\ \sin{ \left( x + \frac{\pi}{4} \right) } &= \frac{2\,\sqrt{2}}{3} \\ x + \frac{\pi}{4} &= \arcsin{ \left( \frac{2\,\sqrt{2}}{3} \right) } \\ x &= \arcsin{ \left( \frac{2\,\sqrt{2}}{3} \right) } - \frac{\pi}{4} \end{align*}$

Now you should be able to find $\displaystyle \begin{align*} \sin{(x)} - \cos{(x)} \end{align*}$, but it will look absolutely horrible...

$\displaystyle \begin{align*} \sin{(x)} - \cos{(x)} &= \sin{ \left[ \arcsin{ \left( \frac{2\,\sqrt{2}}{3} \right) } - \frac{\pi}{4} \right] } - \cos{ \left[ \arcsin{ \left( \frac{2\,\sqrt{2}}{3} \right) } - \frac{\pi}{4} \right] } \\ &= \sin{ \left[ \arcsin{ \left( \frac{2\,\sqrt{2}}{3} \right) } \right] } \cos{ \left( \frac{\pi}{4} \right) } - \cos{ \left[ \arcsin{ \left( \frac{2\,\sqrt{2}}{3} \right) } \right] } \sin{ \left( \frac{\pi}{4} \right) } - \left\{ \cos{ \left[ \arcsin{ \left( \frac{2\,\sqrt{2}}{3} \right) } \right] } \cos{ \left( \frac{\pi}{4} \right) } + \sin{ \left[ \arcsin{ \left( \frac{2\,\sqrt{2}}{3} \right) } \right] } \sin{ \left( \frac{\pi}{4} \right) } \right\} \\ &= \frac{2\,\sqrt{2}}{3} \cdot \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} - \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\cos{ \left[ \arcsin{ \left( \frac{2\,\sqrt{2}}{3} \right) } \right] } - \left\{ \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} \cos{ \left[ \arcsin{ \left( \frac{2\,\sqrt{2}}{3} \right) } \right] } + \frac{2\,\sqrt{2}}{3} \cdot \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} \right\} \\ &= \frac{2}{3} - \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} \,\sqrt{ 1 - \left\{ \sin{ \left[ \arcsin{ \left( \frac{2\,\sqrt{2}}{3} \right) } \right] } \right\} ^2 } - \left( \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} \,\sqrt{ 1 - \left\{ \sin{ \left[ \arcsin{ \left( \frac{2\,\sqrt{2}}{3} \right) } \right] } \right\} ^2 } + \frac{2}{3} \right) \\ &= \frac{2}{3} - \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\,\sqrt{ 1 - \left( \frac{2\,\sqrt{2}}{3} \right) ^2 } - \left[ \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} \,\sqrt{ 1 - \left( \frac{2\,\sqrt{2}}{3} \right) ^2 } + \frac{2}{3} \right] \\ &= \frac{2}{3} - \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\,\sqrt{ 1 - \frac{8}{9} } - \left[ \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\,\sqrt{ 1 - \frac{8}{9} } + \frac{2}{3} \right] \\ &= \frac{2}{3} - \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} \,\sqrt{\frac{1}{9}} - \left[ \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\,\sqrt{\frac{1}{9}} + \frac{2}{3} \right] \\ &= \frac{2}{3} - \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\cdot \frac{1}{3} - \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\cdot \frac{1}{3} - \frac{2}{3} \\ &= -\frac{2}{3\,\sqrt{2}} \\ &= -\frac{\sqrt{2}}{3} \end{align*}$
 
Last edited:
Amazing! (Cool)
Your mistake was so subtle that even though I tracked the precise location of your mistake with my calculator, I could not pinpoint where it occurred!
$$\displaystyle \begin{align*} &= \frac{2}{3} - \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}} \,\sqrt{\frac{1}{9}} - \left[ \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\,\sqrt{\frac{1}{9}} + \frac{2}{3} \right] \\ &= \color{red}\frac{2}{3} - \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\,\frac{1}{\sqrt{3}} - \frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\,\frac{1}{\sqrt{3}} - \frac{2}{3} \\ &= -\frac{2}{\sqrt{6}} \\ &= -\frac{2\,\sqrt{6}}{6} \\ &= -\frac{\sqrt{6}}{3} \end{align*}$$

$$\sqrt{\frac{1}{9}}=\frac{1}{3}\ne \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}$$
:D
 
  • #10
Rido12 said:
Amazing! (Cool)
Your mistake was so subtle that even though I tracked the precise location of your mistake with my calculator, I could not pinpoint where it occurred!$$\sqrt{\frac{1}{9}}=\frac{1}{3}\ne \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}$$
:D

Typical, I can do mathemagic and can't do basic arithmetic >_< hahaha will edit now (y)
 
  • #11
A more general solution to the problem which also does not require trigonometry equation...

$\displaystyle \sin x + \cos x = \frac{4}{3}\ (1)$

... consists in placing $\sin x = y$ and this leads to the equation...

$\displaystyle y + \sqrt{1 - y^{2}} = \frac{4}{3}\ (2)$

The solution of (1) is immediate ...

$\displaystyle y = \sin x = \frac{2}{3} \pm \frac{\sqrt{2}}{6}\ (3)$

Looking at the (1) it turns out that $\sin x$ and $\cos x$ that they can be exchanged between them and that means also that is...

$\displaystyle \sin x - \cos x = \pm \frac{\sqrt{2}}{3}\ (4)$

Kind regards

$\chi$ $\sigma$
 

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