Precalculus: Mathematics for Calculus, 7th Edition

Published by Brooks Cole
ISBN 10: 1305071751
ISBN 13: 978-1-30507-175-9

Chapter 6 - Section 6.6 - The Law of Cosines - 6.6 Exercises - Page 521: 38

Answer

$x=\frac{36-12\sqrt 2}{3\sqrt 3+2\sqrt 2-2\sqrt 6}\approx6.09$

Work Step by Step

Step 1. Use the Law of Cosines in triangle CBQ, we have $a^2=6^2+4^2-2\times4\times6cos45^{\circ}=52-24\sqrt 2$ Step 2. Use the Law of Cosines in triangle ACQ, we have $b^2=x^2+6^2-2\times x\times6cos30^{\circ}=x^2+36-6\sqrt 3x$ Step 3. Use the Law of Cosines in triangle ABQ, we have $c^2=x^2+4^2-2\times x\times4cos75^{\circ}=x^2+16-8cos75^{\circ}x$ Here you can use the Addition Formula to get $cos75^{\circ}=\frac{\sqrt 6-\sqrt 2}{2}$, otherwise, just use the numeric value. Step 4. Use the Pythagorean Theorem in the right triangle of ABC as $c^2=a^2+b^2$, we have $x^2+16-8cos75^{\circ}x=52-24\sqrt 2+x^2+36-6\sqrt 3x$ Step 5. Solve the above equation to get $x=\frac{36-12\sqrt 2}{3\sqrt 3+2\sqrt 2-2\sqrt 6}\approx6.09$
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