Arc?

Algebra Level 3

If arcsin ( x 2 ) = arccos ( x 3 ) \arcsin\left(\dfrac{x}{2}\right)=\arccos\left(\dfrac{x}{3}\right) , what is the greatest value of x x rounded to the nearest thousandth?


The answer is 1.664.

This section requires Javascript.
You are seeing this because something didn't load right. We suggest you, (a) try refreshing the page, (b) enabling javascript if it is disabled on your browser and, finally, (c) loading the non-javascript version of this page . We're sorry about the hassle.

2 solutions

Chris Lewis
Jan 12, 2020

Consider a right-angled triangle A B C ABC with C = 9 0 \angle C=90^{\circ} , A C = x 3 AC=\frac{x}{3} , B C = x 2 BC=\frac{x}{2} and B C = 1 BC=1 (the hypotenuse).

Then arcsin x 2 = arccos x 3 = A \arcsin{\frac{x}{2}}=\arccos{\frac{x}{3}}=\angle A , and also (by Pythagoras), x 2 4 + x 2 9 = 1 \frac{x^2}{4}+\frac{x^2}{9}=1 .

Solving this gives x = 6 13 = 1.664 x=\frac{6}{\sqrt{13}}=\boxed{1.664\ldots} .

Chew-Seong Cheong
Jan 13, 2020

Let sin 1 x 2 = cos 1 x 3 = θ \sin^{-1} \dfrac x2 = \cos^{-1} \dfrac x3 = \theta . Then sin θ = x 2 \sin \theta = \dfrac x2 and cos θ = x 3 \cos \theta = \dfrac x3 and

sin 2 θ + cos 2 θ = 1 ( x 2 ) 2 + ( x 3 ) 2 = 1 13 36 x 2 = 1 x = 6 13 1.644 Taking the greatest value of x \begin{aligned} \sin^2 \theta + \cos^2 \theta & = 1 \\ \left(\frac x2\right)^2 + \left(\frac x3\right)^2 & = 1 \\ \frac {13}{36}x^2 & = 1 \\ \implies x & = \frac 6{\sqrt {13}} \approx \boxed{1.644} & \small \blue{\text{Taking the greatest value of }x} \end{aligned}

0 pending reports

×

Problem Loading...

Note Loading...

Set Loading...