Trigonometry (10th Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0321671775
ISBN 13: 978-0-32167-177-6

Chapter 5 - Trigonometric Identities - Section 5.1 Fundamental Identities - 5.1 Exercises - Page 195: 57

Answer

$$\csc x=\pm\frac{\sqrt{1-\cos^2 x}}{1-\cos^2 x}$$

Work Step by Step

From Reciprocal Identities: $$\csc x=\frac{1}{\sin x}\hspace{1.5cm}(1)$$ We see that we find a connection between $\csc x$ and $\sin x$. However, the exercise asks for a connection between $\csc x$ and $\cos x$. What we can do is find a way to represent $\sin x$ in terms of $\cos x$ From Pythagorean Identities, we also have: $$\sin^2 x+\cos^2 x=1$$ which means $$\sin^2 x=1-\cos^2 x$$ $$\sin x=\pm\sqrt{1-\cos^2 x}\hspace{1.5cm}(2)$$ (as we take the square root of both sides) As we found the way to represent $\sin x$ in terms of $\cos x$, we can adopt it for $\csc x$ in $(1)$: $$\csc x=\frac{1}{\pm\sqrt{1-\cos^2 x}}$$ $$\csc x=\pm\frac{1}{\sqrt{1-\cos^2 x}}$$ We rationalize the denominator by multiplying both numerator and denominator by $\sqrt{1-\cos^2 x}$ $$\csc x=\pm\frac{1}{\sqrt{1-\cos^2 x}}\frac{\sqrt{1-\cos^2 x}}{\sqrt{1-\cos^2 x}}$$ $$\csc x=\pm\frac{\sqrt{1-\cos^2 x}}{1-\cos^2 x}$$
Update this answer!

You can help us out by revising, improving and updating this answer.

Update this answer

After you claim an answer you’ll have 24 hours to send in a draft. An editor will review the submission and either publish your submission or provide feedback.