178k views
5 votes
Given sinx = -3/5
and x is in quadrant 3, what is the value of tanX/2?

User Basvo
by
4.0k points

1 Answer

6 votes

Okay. So the first order of business I think is the find what "x" is. There are two points that have a sine of -3/5 (one in quadrant 3 and one in quadrant 4). So let's keep that in mind when solving.

sin(x) = -3/5

We can just take the inverse sine of -3/5 to find "x".


sin^(-1)(-3/5)= -36.87° approx.

Now keep in mind that -36.87° is in quadrant 4. So its partner in quadrant 3 would be...

180+36.87=216.87° approx.

Last step...

tan(216.87/2)= -3.00 approx.

answer: -3.00 approx.

User Lcrespilho
by
4.5k points