Trigonometry Examples

$\cot (x) (\tan (x) - 1) = 0$

Step 1

If any individual factor on the left side of the equation is equal to $0$ , the entire expression will be equal to $0$ .

$\cot (x) = 0$

$\tan (x) - 1 = 0$

Step 2

Set $\cot (x)$ equal to $0$ and solve for $x$ .

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Step 2.1

Set $\cot (x)$ equal to $0$ .

$\cot (x) = 0$

Step 2.2

Solve $\cot (x) = 0$ for $x$ .

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Step 2.2.1

Take the inverse cotangent of both sides of the equation to extract $x$ from inside the cotangent.

$x = arccot (0)$

Step 2.2.2

Simplify the right side.

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Step 2.2.2.1

The exact value of $arccot (0)$ is $\frac{π}{2}$ .

$x = \frac{π}{2}$

Step 2.2.3

The cotangent function is positive in the first and third quadrants. To find the second solution, add the reference angle from $π$ to find the solution in the fourth quadrant.

$x = π + \frac{π}{2}$

Step 2.2.4

Simplify $π + \frac{π}{2}$ .

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Step 2.2.4.1

To write $π$ as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by $\frac{2}{2}$ .

$x = π \cdot \frac{2}{2} + \frac{π}{2}$

Step 2.2.4.2

Combine fractions.

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Step 2.2.4.2.1

Combine $π$ and $\frac{2}{2}$ .

$x = \frac{π \cdot 2}{2} + \frac{π}{2}$

Step 2.2.4.2.2

Combine the numerators over the common denominator.

$x = \frac{π \cdot 2 + π}{2}$

Step 2.2.4.3

Simplify the numerator.

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Step 2.2.4.3.1

Move $2$ to the left of $π$ .

$x = \frac{2 \cdot π + π}{2}$

Step 2.2.4.3.2

Add $2 π$ and $π$ .

$x = \frac{3 π}{2}$

Step 2.2.5

Find the period of $\cot (x)$ .

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Step 2.2.5.1

The period of the function can be calculated using $\frac{π}{| b |}$ .

$\frac{π}{| b |}$

Step 2.2.5.2

Replace $b$ with $1$ in the formula for period.

$\frac{π}{| 1 |}$

Step 2.2.5.3

The absolute value is the distance between a number and zero. The distance between $0$ and $1$ is $1$ .

$\frac{π}{1}$

Step 2.2.5.4

Divide $π$ by $1$ .

$π$

Step 2.2.6

The period of the $\cot (x)$ function is $π$ so values will repeat every $π$ radians in both directions.

$x = \frac{π}{2} + π n, \frac{3 π}{2} + π n$ , for any integer $n$

Step 3

Set $\tan (x) - 1$ equal to $0$ and solve for $x$ .

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Step 3.1

Set $\tan (x) - 1$ equal to $0$ .

$\tan (x) - 1 = 0$

Step 3.2

Solve $\tan (x) - 1 = 0$ for $x$ .

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Step 3.2.1

Add $1$ to both sides of the equation.

$\tan (x) = 1$

Step 3.2.2

Take the inverse tangent of both sides of the equation to extract $x$ from inside the tangent.

$x = \arctan (1)$

Step 3.2.3

Simplify the right side.

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Step 3.2.3.1

The exact value of $\arctan (1)$ is $\frac{π}{4}$ .

$x = \frac{π}{4}$

Step 3.2.4

The tangent function is positive in the first and third quadrants. To find the second solution, add the reference angle from $π$ to find the solution in the fourth quadrant.

$x = π + \frac{π}{4}$

Step 3.2.5

Simplify $π + \frac{π}{4}$ .

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Step 3.2.5.1

To write $π$ as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by $\frac{4}{4}$ .

$x = π \cdot \frac{4}{4} + \frac{π}{4}$

Step 3.2.5.2

Combine fractions.

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Step 3.2.5.2.1

Combine $π$ and $\frac{4}{4}$ .

$x = \frac{π \cdot 4}{4} + \frac{π}{4}$

Step 3.2.5.2.2

Combine the numerators over the common denominator.

$x = \frac{π \cdot 4 + π}{4}$

Step 3.2.5.3

Simplify the numerator.

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Step 3.2.5.3.1

Move $4$ to the left of $π$ .

$x = \frac{4 \cdot π + π}{4}$

Step 3.2.5.3.2

Add $4 π$ and $π$ .

$x = \frac{5 π}{4}$

Step 3.2.6

Find the period of $\tan (x)$ .

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Step 3.2.6.1

The period of the function can be calculated using $\frac{π}{| b |}$ .

$\frac{π}{| b |}$

Step 3.2.6.2

Replace $b$ with $1$ in the formula for period.

$\frac{π}{| 1 |}$

Step 3.2.6.3

The absolute value is the distance between a number and zero. The distance between $0$ and $1$ is $1$ .

$\frac{π}{1}$

Step 3.2.6.4

Divide $π$ by $1$ .

$π$

Step 3.2.7

The period of the $\tan (x)$ function is $π$ so values will repeat every $π$ radians in both directions.

$x = \frac{π}{4} + π n, \frac{5 π}{4} + π n$ , for any integer $n$

Step 4

The final solution is all the values that make $\cot (x) (\tan (x) - 1) = 0$ true.

$x = \frac{π}{2} + π n, \frac{3 π}{2} + π n, \frac{π}{4} + π n, \frac{5 π}{4} + π n$ , for any integer $n$

Step 5

Consolidate the answers.

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Step 5.1

Consolidate $\frac{π}{2} + π n$ and $\frac{3 π}{2} + π n$ to $\frac{π}{2} + π n$ .

$x = \frac{π}{2} + π n, \frac{π}{4} + π n, \frac{5 π}{4} + π n$ , for any integer $n$

Step 5.2

Consolidate $\frac{π}{4} + π n$ and $\frac{5 π}{4} + π n$ to $\frac{π}{4} + π n$ .

$x = \frac{π}{2} + π n, \frac{π}{4} + π n$ , for any integer $n$

Step 6

Exclude the solutions that do not make $\cot (x) (\tan (x) - 1) = 0$ true.

$x = \frac{π}{4} + π n$ , for any integer $n$