Chapter 5: Problem 14
Short Answer
Expert verified
The sine of \(A/2\) is positive because \(A/2\) lies in the second quadrant where sine is positive.
Step by step solution
01
Determine the Quadrant
Angles between 180° and 270° lie in the third quadrant of the unit circle. In this quadrant, sine values are negative while cosine values are also negative.
02
Identify the Properties of Half-Angle
The half-angle formula for sine is given by \( \sin\left( \frac{A}{2} \right) = \pm \sqrt{\frac{1-\cos(A)}{2}} \). Whether it is positive or negative depends on the quadrant of \( \frac{A}{2} \).
03
Determine the Quadrant for Half of Angle A
If \(180^{\circ} < A < 270^{\circ}\), then \(90^{\circ} < \frac{A}{2} < 135^{\circ}\). This range lies in the second quadrant of the unit circle.
04
Analyze the Sign of Sine in Quadrant 2
In the second quadrant, the sine function is positive. Therefore, \( \sin\left( \frac{A}{2} \right) \) is positive.
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Key Concepts
These are the key concepts you need to understand to accurately answer the question.
Unit Circle
The Unit Circle is a crucial tool in trigonometry. It simplifies understanding the sine, cosine, and tangent functions as they relate to angles and triangles. A unit circle is a circle with a radius of 1, centered at the origin
(0, 0)
of a coordinate plane.
- The x-coordinate of a point on the unit circle corresponds to the cosine of the angle.
- The y-coordinate corresponds to the sine of the angle.
- The angle, measured in radians, increases counterclockwise starting from the positive x-axis.
- First Quadrant (0° - 90°): Both sine and cosine are positive.
- Second Quadrant (90° - 180°): Sine is positive, cosine is negative.
- Third Quadrant (180° - 270°): Both sine and cosine are negative.
- Fourth Quadrant (270° - 360°): Sine is negative, cosine is positive.
Sine Function
The Sine Function is a fundamental trigonometric function with a periodic wave form. It describes the height, or y-coordinate, of a point on the unit circle as a function of angle.
Important properties of the sine function include:
This confirms that \(\sin\left(\frac{A}{2}\right)\) is positive, even though \(\sin(A)\) is negative in its native third quadrant.
Important properties of the sine function include:
- It has a periodicity of 360° or \(2\pi\) radians, repeating its values every full rotation around the circle.
- The function oscillates between -1 and 1.
- At 0° and 180°, the sine is 0.
- At 90°, it reaches its peak value of 1, while at 270°, it dips to -1.
This confirms that \(\sin\left(\frac{A}{2}\right)\) is positive, even though \(\sin(A)\) is negative in its native third quadrant.
Half-Angle Formulas
Half-Angle Formulas are trigonometric identities that allow the calculation of sine, cosine, and tangent for half of an angle. They are particularly handy when reducing complex trigonometric expressions:
For the sine function, the half-angle formula is:\[\sin\left( \frac{A}{2} \right) = \pm \sqrt{\frac{1-\cos(A)}{2}}\]The sign of the result depends on the quadrant in which the half-angle lies:
For the sine function, the half-angle formula is:\[\sin\left( \frac{A}{2} \right) = \pm \sqrt{\frac{1-\cos(A)}{2}}\]The sign of the result depends on the quadrant in which the half-angle lies:
- In the first and second quadrants, sine is positive.
- In the third and fourth quadrants, sine is negative.