Precalculus Examples

$\cos (- 135)$

Step 1

Apply the reference angle by finding the angle with equivalent trig values in the first quadrant. Make the expression negative because cosine is negative in the third quadrant.

$- \cos (45)$

Step 2

The exact value of $\cos (45)$ is $\frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}$ .

$- \frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}$

Step 3

The result can be shown in multiple forms.

Exact Form:

$- \frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}$

Decimal Form:

$- 0.70710678 \dots$