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Algebra Level pending

Let f : [ 0 , 4 Π ] [ 0 , Π ] f:[0,4\Pi ]\xrightarrow { } [0,\Pi ] be defined by f ( x ) = c o s 1 ( c o s x ) f(x)=cos{ }_{ }^{ -1 }(cos\quad x) . The number of points x [ 0 , 4 Π ] x\in [0,4\Pi ] satisfying the equation f ( x ) = 10 x x f(x)=\cfrac { 10-x }{ x }


The answer is 3.

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1 solution

James Wilson
Sep 26, 2017

For arccos ( x ) \arccos(x) I used what is typically considered to be the principal arc cosine. This returns a value between 0 0 and π \pi . I'll divide the domain into four equal intervals, and examine them. As x x goes from 0 0 to π \pi , the range of arccos ( x ) \arccos(x) is the same as the domain of cos ( x ) \cos(x) , so they exactly invert each other. Hence, f ( x ) = x f(x)=x for 0 x π 0\leq x\leq \pi . Next, from x = π x=\pi to x = 2 π x=2\pi , I used the identity cos ( 2 π x ) = cos ( x ) \cos(2\pi-x)=\cos(x) to adjust the angle to always be between 0 0 and π \pi so that the domain of cos matches the range of arccos, so we can again cancel the cos and arccos. Hence, f ( x ) = 2 π x f(x)=2\pi - x for π x 2 π \pi \leq x \leq 2\pi . The next two relevant identities are cos ( x 2 π ) = cos ( x ) \cos(x-2\pi)=\cos(x) and cos ( 4 π x ) = cos ( x ) \cos(4\pi-x)=\cos(x) . This leads to four equations corresponding to each interval: x = 10 x x x=\frac{10-x}{x} for 0 x π 0\leq x \leq \pi , 2 π x = 10 x x 2\pi-x=\frac{10-x}{x} for π x 2 π \pi \leq x \leq 2\pi , x 2 π = 10 x x x-2\pi =\frac{10-x}{x} for 2 π x 3 π 2\pi \leq x \leq 3\pi , 4 π x = 10 x x 4\pi-x=\frac{10-x}{x} for 3 π x 4 π 3\pi \leq x \leq 4\pi . Only the first three have solutions inside their respective intervals.

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