Finding a Solution for a System of Equations with Trigonometric Functions

usn7564
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Homework Statement


It's a longer problem but all that's left is:

y = k^2 \frac{1-cos(\theta)}{2}
x = k^2 \frac{\theta - sin(\theta)}{2}

I want to find a k that solves the equations for the point (x, y) = (x_0, y_0)

The Attempt at a Solution


I manipulated them to get two expressions for k, putting them = each other and simplifying I get

2(\theta-sin(\theta)) = 1 - cos(\theta)
And now I'm completely stuck, how on Earth do I go about finding what theta is?
 
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You can always iterate, picking a trial solution value for theta: remember to use radians.
 
Yeah, that's an option of course. I wonder if that's what the book did, would mean that theta is some relatively nice number I could just find by brute forcing it.
Will give it a go tomorrow, calling it a day for now.
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
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