Sineful mistake

Geometry Level 5

A common misconception of students is to claim that sin x + sin y = sin [ ( x + y ) ] , \sin x^\circ + \sin y^\circ = \sin [ (x+y)^ \circ], just because x + y = ( x + y ) x + y = (x+y) . There are N N ordered pairs of integers ( x , y ) (x, y) , each of which are between 0 and 360 (inclusive), which satisfy the equation sin x + sin y = sin [ ( x + y ) ] . \sin x^\circ + \sin y^\circ = \sin [(x+y)^ \circ].

What are the last three digits of N N ?

Details and assumptions

Notice that the equations are given in degrees, not radians.


The answer is 799.

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5 solutions

Jatin Yadav
Oct 14, 2013

s i n x + s i n y = s i n ( x + y ) sinx + siny = sin(x + y)

2 s i n ( x + y 2 ) c o s ( x y 2 ) 2 s i n ( x + y 2 ) c o s ( x + y 2 ) = 0 \Rightarrow 2sin\Big(\frac{x + y}{2}\Big)cos\Big(\frac{x - y}{2}\Big) - 2sin\Big(\frac{x + y}{2}\Big)cos\Big(\frac{x + y}{2}\Big) = 0

s i n ( x + y 2 ) ( c o s ( x y 2 ) c o s ( x + y 2 ) ) = 0 \Rightarrow sin\Big(\frac{x + y}{2}\Big)\Bigg(cos\Big(\frac{x - y}{2}\Big) - cos\Big(\frac{x + y}{2}\Big)\Bigg) = 0

s i n ( x + y 2 ) s i n ( x 2 ) s i n ( y 2 ) = 0 \Rightarrow sin\Big(\frac{x + y}{2}\Big) sin\Big(\frac{x}{2}\Big)sin\Big(\frac{y}{2}\Big) = 0

Case - 1 : x = y = 0 x = y = 0^{\circ} , or x = y = 36 0 x = y = 360^{\circ} , 2 2 pairs.

Case - 2 : x = 0 , y 0 x = 0^{\circ} , y \neq 0^{\circ} , or x = 36 0 , y 36 0 x = 360^{\circ} , y \neq 360^{\circ} 2 × 360 = 720 2 \times 360 = 720 pairs .

Case - 3 : y = 0 , x 0 , 36 0 y = 0^{\circ} , x \neq {0^{\circ} , 360^{\circ}} , or y = 36 0 , x 0 , 36 0 y = 360^{\circ} , x \neq {0^{\circ} , 360^{\circ}} , 2 × 359 = 718 2 \times 359 = 718 pairs.

Case - 4 : x , y 0 , 36 0 , x + y = 36 0 , 359 x,y \neq 0^{\circ}, 360^{\circ} , x + y = 360^{\circ}, 359 pairs.

Summing up , total number of ordered pairs = 2 + 720 + 718 + 359 2 + 720 + 718 + 359 = 1799 \fbox{1799}

Moderator note:

Great job!

I was tempted to write a solution but then thought it would be time-consuming to write the caseworks so skipped. Now I can see how you reduced the length of your solution........... Clever enough

Nishant Sharma - 7 years, 8 months ago

I don't get why sinx+siny=2sin((x+y)/2)cos((x-y)/2).

Russell FEW - 7 years, 7 months ago

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I think it's the sum-to-product formulas.

Michael Tang - 7 years, 7 months ago

What does a graph of the solution set look like?

Calvin Lin Staff - 7 years, 7 months ago

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It looks like discrete points forming a square ( \big( 360 × 360 360\times360 ) \big) with an on-diagonal.

Nishant Sharma - 7 years, 7 months ago
Peter Byers
Oct 18, 2013

The equation is equivalent to

M M 0 R M-M_0 \in \mathbb{R}

where M M and M 0 M_0 are the "midpoints" defined by

M = ( M = ( cis x + x ^\circ + cis y ) / 2 y ^\circ )/2

M 0 = ( 1 + M_0 = (1+ cis ( x + y ) ) / 2 ( x + y) ^\circ )/2

(where cis θ \theta means cos θ + i sin θ \cos \theta + i \sin \theta , or e i θ e^{i\theta} assuming θ \theta in radians.)

But M M and M 0 M_0 are both on the line through 0 0 and cis ( x + y 2 ) \left ( \frac{ x + y}{2}\right) ^\circ (possibly on the "negative" side of it). So if x + y x+y is a multiple of 360 360 then M M 0 R M-M_0 \in \mathbb{R} holds automatically. If not, M M 0 R M-M_0 \in \mathbb{R}
becomes M = M 0 M=M_0 . But two distinct chords of a circle cannot have the same midpoint, unless they're diameters. That is to say, M = M 0 M=M_0 if and only if 1 1 is the same as either cis x x ^\circ or cis y y ^\circ .

(In the special case that the chords are diameters, cis x = x ^\circ = - cis y y ^\circ and

1 = -1 = cis ( x + y ) = ( (x + y) ^\circ = - ( cis x ) 2 x ^\circ)^2

so cis x = ± 1 x ^\circ = \pm 1 , and we again have 1 { 1 \in \{ cis x x ^\circ , cis y } y ^\circ \} . We should also consider the possibility of a degenerate "chord", i.e. that the "endpoints" are actually the same point. But in that case we would have to have 1 = 1 = cis x = x ^\circ = cis y y ^\circ .)

So what we have shown is that M M 0 R M-M_0 \in \mathbb{R} if and only if { x , y , x + y } \{x,y,x+y\} contains at least one multiple of 360 360 . (This can also be shown with a nice trigonometric/algebraic argument, but I thought it might interesting to post a complex/geometric method.)

Now consider the requirement that x , y { 0 , 1 , . . . , 360 } x,y \in \{0,1,...,360\} . If x { 0 , 360 } x \in \{0,360\} , then no additional restriction on y y is needed; if x { 1 , . . . , 359 } x \in \{1,...,359\} , then y { 0 , 360 , 360 x } y \in \{0,360,360-x\} (which are in fact three distinct numbers). So the number of pairs is: 2 ( 361 ) + 359 ( 3 ) = 1799 2(361)+359(3)=1799 and our final answer is 799 799 .

So today this problem appeared on my "homepage" ... then, when I took a look to see what solutions other people used, I discovered not only that I've done this problem before, but also that the way I did it today is different than the way I did it in 2013. So here's how I did it today:

Letting w = w = cis x x ^\circ and z = z = cis y y ^\circ the equation becomes

0 = I m ( w z w z ) = I m [ ( w 1 ) ( z 1 ) ] 0= Im (wz-w-z) = Im [(w-1)(z-1)]

(since I m ( 1 ) = 0 Im (1) = 0 ). But that's equivalent to saying that w 1 w-1 , z ˉ 1 \bar z-1 , and 0 0 are colinear, i.e. that w w , z ˉ \bar z , and 1 1 are colinear.

And (since w w , z ˉ \bar z , and 1 1 all lie on the unit circle) that's equivalent to saying that two of them coincide.

Therefore, the solutions are all pairs such that one (or more) of the following hold:

  • w = 1 w=1 i.e x = 0 x = 0 or 360 360
  • z = 1 z=1 i.e y = 0 y = 0 or 360 360
  • w = z ˉ w=\bar z i.e x + y = 0 x+y = 0 or 360 360 or 720 720

Adjusting for repeated pairs, that means 5 361 + 2 8 = 1799 5*361+2-8=1799 solutions.

Peter Byers - 5 years ago
Hadia Qadir
Sep 3, 2015

sin x + sin y = sin (x+y) 2 sin (x+y)/2 cos (x-y)/2 = 2 sin (x+y)/2 cos (x+y)/2 sin (x+y)/2 (cos (x-y)/2 - cos (x+y)/2 ) = 0 sin (x+y)/2 (-2sin x/2 sin y/2) = 0 Hence sin (x+y)/2 = 0 and (x+y)/2 = 0 or 180 and x+y = 0 or 360 (361 solutions) sin x/2 = 0 and x = 0 or 360 and y any integer in the range (361 x 2 = 722 solutions) sin y/2 = 0 and y= 0 or 360 and y any integer in the range (722 solutions) However, do note that the roots (0,0) and (360, 360) have been repeated twice and the roots (0, 360) and (360, 0) have been repeated thirce. So we have 2(2-1+3-1) = 6 repeated roots. Hence N = 361+ 722 +722 - 6 = 1799. Last 3 digits of N = 799

Noel Lo
Oct 15, 2013

sin x + sin y = sin (x+y) 2 sin (x+y)/2 cos (x-y)/2 = 2 sin (x+y)/2 cos (x+y)/2 sin (x+y)/2 (cos (x-y)/2 - cos (x+y)/2 ) = 0 sin (x+y)/2 (-2sin x/2 sin y/2) = 0 Hence sin (x+y)/2 = 0 and (x+y)/2 = 0 or 180 and x+y = 0 or 360 (361 solutions) sin x/2 = 0 and x = 0 or 360 and y any integer in the range (361 x 2 = 722 solutions) sin y/2 = 0 and y= 0 or 360 and y any integer in the range (722 solutions) However, do note that the roots (0,0) and (360, 360) have been repeated twice and the roots (0, 360) and (360, 0) have been repeated thirce. So we have 2(2-1+3-1) = 6 repeated roots. Hence N = 361+ 722 +722 - 6 = 1799. Last 3 digits of N = 799

Vinayak K
Oct 14, 2013

s i n x + s i n y sin x + sin y = s i n ( x + y ) sin (x+y) ;
2 s i n ( ( x + y ) / 2 ) c o s ( ( x y ) / 2 ) 2sin ((x+y)/2)cos ((x-y)/2) = 2 s i n ( ( x + y ) / 2 ) c o s ( ( x + y ) / 2 ) 2sin ((x+y)/2)cos ((x+y)/2) ; s i n ( ( x + y ) / 2 ) [ c o s ( ( x y ) / 2 ) c o s ( ( x + y ) / 2 ) ] = 0 sin((x+y)/2) [cos((x-y)/2) - cos ((x+y)/2)] = 0
s i n ( ( x + y ) / 2 ) [ 2 s i n ( x / 2 ) s i n ( y / 2 ) ] = 0 sin((x+y)/2) [2sin(x/2)sin(y/2)] = 0 ;
s i n ( ( x + y ) / 2 ) = 0 sin((x+y)/2) = 0 ; or s i n ( x / 2 ) = 0 sin(x/2) = 0 ; or s i n ( y / 2 ) = 0 sin(y/2) = 0 ;
x + y = 0 , 360 , 720 x+y =0,360,720 ; or x = 0 , 360 x = 0,360 ; or y = 0 , 360 y = 0,360 ;



  When x = 0,  y can take 361 values   ;                                                                                            

  When x = 360, y can take 361 values ;                                                                          

 When y = 0  ,  x can take 361 values (already counted 0 and 360)  ;                     

 When y = 360 , x can take 361 values (already counted 0 and 360) ;                            

 x+y=0   is possible for x=0 , y=0 (already counted ) ;   

 x+y=720  is possible for x=360 , y=360 (already counted ) ;  

 x+y=360 , (x,y) = (0,360) , (1,359), ... , (359,1), (360,0) . { already counted (0,360) and (360,0) }  ;
     Hence 359 possible pairs.

 Total number of ordered pairs of integers (x,y) = 2*361 + 3*359 
                               = 1799

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