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Use sum of difference identity to find exact value
sin(-15 degrees)

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Answer: We can use the fact that the sine function is an odd function, which means that:

sin(-x) = -sin(x)

So, we have:

sin(-15 degrees) = -sin(15 degrees)

We can use the sum and difference identity for sine, which states that:

sin(a - b) = sin(a)cos(b) - cos(a)sin(b)

Letting a = 45 degrees and b = 30 degrees, we get:

sin(45 degrees - 30 degrees) = sin(45 degrees)cos(30 degrees) - cos(45 degrees)sin(30 degrees)

We can use the fact that cos(45 degrees) = sin(45 degrees) = √2 / 2 and cos(30 degrees) = √3 / 2 and sin(30 degrees) = 1 / 2 to simplify:

sin(15 degrees) = (√2 / 2)(√3 / 2) - (√2 / 2)(1 / 2)

sin(15 degrees) = (√6 - √2) / 4

Therefore, we have:

sin(-15 degrees) = -sin(15 degrees) = -[(√6 - √2) / 4] = (-√6 + √2) / 4

So the exact value of sin(-15 degrees) is (-√6 + √2) / 4.

Explanation:

User Tristan Hessell
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