To find the values of a and b in the equation cos theta = a/b, use the given information that csc theta = 17/15. Rewrite the equation as 1/sin theta = 17/15 and solve for sin theta. Then use the identity sin^2 theta + cos^2 theta = 1 to find cos theta. Finally, take the square root to find the values for a and b.
To find the value of a and b in the equation cos θ = a/b, we need to use the given information that csc θ = 17/15.
Since csc θ = 1/sin θ, we can rewrite the equation as 1/sin θ = 17/15. To solve for sin θ, we can take the reciprocal of both sides, giving us sin θ = 15/17.
Now we can find cos θ using the identity sin^2 θ + cos^2 θ = 1. Plugging in the values, we have (15/17)^2 + cos^2 θ = 1. Solving for cos^2 θ, we get cos^2 θ = 1 - (15/17)^2.
Finally, taking the square root of both sides, we find cos θ = ± sqrt(1 -(15/17)^2). Therefore, a = ± sqrt(1 - (15/17)^2) and b = 1.