Trigonometry Examples

Solve for θ in Degrees 2tan(theta)^2-5tan(theta)+4=-8tan(theta)+6
Step 1
Move all the expressions to the left side of the equation.
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Step 1.1
Add to both sides of the equation.
Step 1.2
Subtract from both sides of the equation.
Step 2
Simplify the left side of the equation.
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Step 2.1
Add and .
Step 2.2
Subtract from .
Step 3
Factor by grouping.
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Step 3.1
Reorder terms.
Step 3.2
For a polynomial of the form , rewrite the middle term as a sum of two terms whose product is and whose sum is .
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Step 3.2.1
Factor out of .
Step 3.2.2
Rewrite as plus
Step 3.2.3
Apply the distributive property.
Step 3.3
Factor out the greatest common factor from each group.
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Step 3.3.1
Group the first two terms and the last two terms.
Step 3.3.2
Factor out the greatest common factor (GCF) from each group.
Step 3.4
Factor the polynomial by factoring out the greatest common factor, .
Step 4
If any individual factor on the left side of the equation is equal to , the entire expression will be equal to .
Step 5
Set equal to and solve for .
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Step 5.1
Set equal to .
Step 5.2
Solve for .
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Step 5.2.1
Add to both sides of the equation.
Step 5.2.2
Divide each term in by and simplify.
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Step 5.2.2.1
Divide each term in by .
Step 5.2.2.2
Simplify the left side.
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Step 5.2.2.2.1
Cancel the common factor of .
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Step 5.2.2.2.1.1
Cancel the common factor.
Step 5.2.2.2.1.2
Divide by .
Step 5.2.3
Take the inverse tangent of both sides of the equation to extract from inside the tangent.
Step 5.2.4
Simplify the right side.
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Step 5.2.4.1
Evaluate .
Step 5.2.5
The tangent function is positive in the first and third quadrants. To find the second solution, subtract the reference angle from to find the solution in the fourth quadrant.
Step 5.2.6
Add and .
Step 5.2.7
Find the period of .
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Step 5.2.7.1
The period of the function can be calculated using .
Step 5.2.7.2
Replace with in the formula for period.
Step 5.2.7.3
The absolute value is the distance between a number and zero. The distance between and is .
Step 5.2.7.4
Divide by .
Step 5.2.8
The period of the function is so values will repeat every degrees in both directions.
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, for any integer
Step 6
Set equal to and solve for .
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Step 6.1
Set equal to .
Step 6.2
Solve for .
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Step 6.2.1
Subtract from both sides of the equation.
Step 6.2.2
Take the inverse tangent of both sides of the equation to extract from inside the tangent.
Step 6.2.3
Simplify the right side.
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Step 6.2.3.1
Evaluate .
Step 6.2.4
The tangent function is negative in the second and fourth quadrants. To find the second solution, subtract the reference angle from to find the solution in the third quadrant.
Step 6.2.5
Simplify the expression to find the second solution.
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Step 6.2.5.1
Add to .
Step 6.2.5.2
The resulting angle of is positive and coterminal with .
Step 6.2.6
Find the period of .
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Step 6.2.6.1
The period of the function can be calculated using .
Step 6.2.6.2
Replace with in the formula for period.
Step 6.2.6.3
The absolute value is the distance between a number and zero. The distance between and is .
Step 6.2.6.4
Divide by .
Step 6.2.7
Add to every negative angle to get positive angles.
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Step 6.2.7.1
Add to to find the positive angle.
Step 6.2.7.2
Subtract from .
Step 6.2.7.3
List the new angles.
Step 6.2.8
The period of the function is so values will repeat every degrees in both directions.
, for any integer
, for any integer
, for any integer
Step 7
The final solution is all the values that make true.
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Step 8
Consolidate the answers.
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