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What is the exact value of sun 170° cos 55° cos +170° sin 55°?

a. √2/2
b. √3/2
c. -√2/2
d. -√3/2

User Tesmojones
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1 Answer

2 votes

Final answer:

Use the trigonometric identities to find the exact value of sin 170° cos 55° cos +170° sin 55° is √3/2. Hence, option (b) is correct.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the exact value of sun 170° cos 55° cos +170° sin 55°, we can use the trigonometric identities. By using the double-angle formula for sine and cosine, we can rewrite the expression as:

sin(2θ) = 2sin(θ)cos(θ) and cos(2θ) = cos²(θ) - sin²(θ).

Substituting the values, we have:

sin(170°)cos(55°) + cos(170°)sin(55°) = 2sin(170° + 55°)cos(170° - 55°) = 2sin(225°)cos(115°).

Using the reference angles, sin(225°) = -sin(45°) = -1/√2 and cos(115°) = -cos(65°) = -cos(90° - 65°) = -sin(65°) = -√3/2.

Substituting these values back into the expression:

2(-1/√2)(-√3/2) = √2/2 * √3/2 = √6/4 = √3/2.

Therefore, the exact value of sin 170° cos 55° cos +170° sin 55° is √3/2 (option b).

User Michiel Overeem
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8.5k points