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View Full Version : Solve the equation: cos^3(x) - sin^3(x) = cos^2(x)


nebozvjezdano
Jan 30, 2011, 07:21 AM
Help, please :)

jcaron2
Jan 30, 2011, 07:50 AM
You can factor the difference of two cubes as follows:

a^3-b^3=(a-b)(a^2+ab+b^2)

So if you factor out the left side of the equation, notice that you'll end up with a sin^2(x) and a cos^2(x) in the second set of parentheses. Those will add together to become 1.

See if you can take it from there.