View Full Version : Pre-cal question.
 
 K_T.T.
Nov 20, 2011, 03:59 PM
Please help me solve this, I have tried several ways and still doesn't come out corectly.
 
Prove the following:
 
cos^3x-sin^3x/ cosx-sinx=1 sin^2x.
 K_T.T.
Nov 20, 2011, 04:02 PM
Please help me solve this, I have tried several ways and still doesn't come out correctly.
 
Prove the following:
 
cos^3x-sin^3x/ cosx-sinx=1 sin^2x.
 Fr_Chuck
Nov 20, 2011, 04:04 PM
Show us what you tired,  we do not "do" the work for you, but will suggest where you are making your errors.
 K_T.T.
Nov 20, 2011, 04:10 PM
this is how far I got to,
 
cosx-sinx(cos^2x+sinxcosx+sin^2x)/cosx-sinx
 
since the top and bottom cancel out, I got
 
cos^2x+sinxcosx+sin^2x
 
I reduced further to
 
1+sinxcosx
 
this is where I got stuck at because on the other side of the equation equals to 1+sin^2x
 Aurora2000
Nov 21, 2011, 03:10 AM
What you are doing is correct, but are you sure the request is
 
\dfrac{\cos^3x-\sin^3x}{\cos x-\sin x}=1+\sin^2x ?
 
Try x=\pi/6: \cos \pi/6=\sqrt{3}/2, \sin \pi/6=1/2
then the left side reads
\dfrac{(\sqrt{3}/2)^3 -1/8 }{\sqrt{3}/2-1/2} which is an irrational number
while right side is 5/4.
 Aurora2000
Nov 21, 2011, 03:13 AM
Oops, some problem with mimeTex (it does not recognize the command \ dfrac as LaTeX does)
 
What you are doing is correct, but are you sure the request is
 
 \frac{cos^3 x-\sin^3 x}{\cos x-\sin x}=1+\sin^2 x ?
 
Try x=\pi/6 , you will get an irrational value on the left side, and 5/4 on the right side.