Precalculus Examples

Solve for ? sec(theta/2)=cos(theta/2)
Step 1
Divide each term in by and simplify.
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Step 1.1
Divide each term in by .
Step 1.2
Simplify the left side.
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Step 1.2.1
Cancel the common factor of .
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Step 1.2.1.1
Cancel the common factor.
Step 1.2.1.2
Rewrite the expression.
Step 1.3
Simplify the right side.
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Step 1.3.1
Rewrite in terms of sines and cosines.
Step 1.3.2
Multiply by the reciprocal of the fraction to divide by .
Step 1.3.3
Simplify.
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Step 1.3.3.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 1.3.3.2
Raise to the power of .
Step 1.3.3.3
Use the power rule to combine exponents.
Step 1.3.3.4
Add and .
Step 2
Rewrite the equation as .
Step 3
Take the specified root of both sides of the equation to eliminate the exponent on the left side.
Step 4
Any root of is .
Step 5
The complete solution is the result of both the positive and negative portions of the solution.
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Step 5.1
First, use the positive value of the to find the first solution.
Step 5.2
Next, use the negative value of the to find the second solution.
Step 5.3
The complete solution is the result of both the positive and negative portions of the solution.
Step 6
Set up each of the solutions to solve for .
Step 7
Solve for in .
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Step 7.1
Take the inverse cosine of both sides of the equation to extract from inside the cosine.
Step 7.2
Simplify the right side.
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Step 7.2.1
The exact value of is .
Step 7.3
Set the numerator equal to zero.
Step 7.4
The cosine function is positive in the first and fourth quadrants. To find the second solution, subtract the reference angle from to find the solution in the fourth quadrant.
Step 7.5
Solve for .
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Step 7.5.1
Multiply both sides of the equation by .
Step 7.5.2
Simplify both sides of the equation.
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Step 7.5.2.1
Simplify the left side.
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Step 7.5.2.1.1
Cancel the common factor of .
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Step 7.5.2.1.1.1
Cancel the common factor.
Step 7.5.2.1.1.2
Rewrite the expression.
Step 7.5.2.2
Simplify the right side.
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Step 7.5.2.2.1
Simplify .
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Step 7.5.2.2.1.1
Subtract from .
Step 7.5.2.2.1.2
Multiply by .
Step 7.6
Find the period of .
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Step 7.6.1
The period of the function can be calculated using .
Step 7.6.2
Replace with in the formula for period.
Step 7.6.3
is approximately which is positive so remove the absolute value
Step 7.6.4
Multiply the numerator by the reciprocal of the denominator.
Step 7.6.5
Multiply by .
Step 7.7
The period of the function is so values will repeat every radians in both directions.
, for any integer
, for any integer
Step 8
Solve for in .
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Step 8.1
Take the inverse cosine of both sides of the equation to extract from inside the cosine.
Step 8.2
Simplify the right side.
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Step 8.2.1
The exact value of is .
Step 8.3
Multiply both sides of the equation by .
Step 8.4
Simplify the left side.
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Step 8.4.1
Cancel the common factor of .
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Step 8.4.1.1
Cancel the common factor.
Step 8.4.1.2
Rewrite the expression.
Step 8.5
The cosine function is negative in the second and third quadrants. To find the second solution, subtract the reference angle from to find the solution in the third quadrant.
Step 8.6
Solve for .
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Step 8.6.1
Multiply both sides of the equation by .
Step 8.6.2
Simplify both sides of the equation.
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Step 8.6.2.1
Simplify the left side.
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Step 8.6.2.1.1
Cancel the common factor of .
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Step 8.6.2.1.1.1
Cancel the common factor.
Step 8.6.2.1.1.2
Rewrite the expression.
Step 8.6.2.2
Simplify the right side.
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Step 8.6.2.2.1
Subtract from .
Step 8.7
Find the period of .
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Step 8.7.1
The period of the function can be calculated using .
Step 8.7.2
Replace with in the formula for period.
Step 8.7.3
is approximately which is positive so remove the absolute value
Step 8.7.4
Multiply the numerator by the reciprocal of the denominator.
Step 8.7.5
Multiply by .
Step 8.8
The period of the function is so values will repeat every radians in both directions.
, for any integer
, for any integer
Step 9
List all of the solutions.
, for any integer
Step 10
Consolidate the answers.
, for any integer