Q. Given that cosx=45 and siny=41, and that angles x and y are both in Quadrant I, find the exact value of cos(x−y), in simplest radical form.Answer:
Given Trigonometric Values: We are given that cosx=45 and siny=41, and we need to find cos(x−y). We can use the cosine difference identity, which states that cos(x−y)=cosx⋅cosy+sinx⋅siny. First, we need to find cosy and sinx.
Find cosy: Since siny=41 and y is in Quadrant I, where all trigonometric functions are positive, we can find cosy using the Pythagorean identity sin2y+cos2y=1. We calculate cosy as follows:cos2y=1−sin2ycos2y=1−(41)2cos2y=1−161cos2y=1615siny=410siny=411
Find sinx: Similarly, we can find sinx using the Pythagorean identity sin2x+cos2x=1. We calculate sinx as follows:sin2x=1−cos2xsin2x=1−(5/4)2sin2x=1−5/16sin2x=11/16sinx=11/16sinx=11/4
Calculate cos(x−y): Now that we have cosy=415 and sinx=411, we can substitute these values into the cosine difference identity:cos(x−y)=cosx⋅cosy+sinx⋅sinycos(x−y)=(45)⋅(415)+(411)⋅(41)cos(x−y)=4⋅45⋅15+4⋅411cos(x−y)=1675+11
Simplify 75: We can simplify 75 by factoring out the perfect square:75=25×375=25×375=5×3
Substitute and Simplify: Substitute the simplified form of 75 back into the expression for cos(x−y):cos(x−y)=165⋅3+11This is the exact value of cos(x−y) in simplest radical form.
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