How do you solve tan(x)=sin(2x)?

  • Thread starter Thread starter princiebebe57
  • Start date Start date
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
6 replies · 3K views
princiebebe57
Messages
31
Reaction score
0
How do you find the solution tan(x)=sin(2x)? :confused:
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Can you express both sides in terms of sin(x) and cos(x)? That might be a good place to start.
 
No...do i have to do that to find all the solution points?
 
princiebebe57 said:
No...do i have to do that to find all the solution points?

You could plot them and look for the intersection points.
But cristo's suggestion would probably yield more accurate ["closed form"] answers. (Be careful not to inadvertently throw away solutions.)
 
Last edited:
You can easily do it using the fact that:

[tex] \begin{array}{l}<br /> \tan x \equiv \frac{{\sin x}}{{\cos x}} \\ <br /> \sin (2x) \equiv 2\sin x\cos x \\ <br /> \end{array}[/tex]
 
square both sides...then make use of (a-b)^2 = (a+b)(a-b)
 
unscientific said:
square both sides...then make use of (a-b)^2 = (a+b)(a-b)

um...
(a-b)^2 = a^2 - 2ab + b^2
a^2 - b^2 = (a+b)(a-b)