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TMUA 2018 · Paper 2 · Question 4 of 20

TMUA 2018 Paper 2 Question 4

Trigonometry — Counting solutions of a trigonometric equation. Try it first; the answer and a full worked solution are below.

TMUA 2018 · Paper 2TrigonometryCounting solutions of a trigonometric equation6 options
The non-zero real number c is such that the equation cos x = c has two solutions for 0 < x < 32π.

How many solutions of the equation cos2 2x = c2 are there in the range 0 < x < 32π?

  1. A2
  2. B3
  3. C4
  4. D6
  5. E7
  6. F8
Show the answer and worked solution
answer · D
  1. A2
  2. B3
  3. C4
  4. D6
  5. E7
  6. F8
First pin down c. On 0 < x < 32π the cosine falls from 1 to −1 over (0, π) and rises from −1 back to 0 over (π,  32π), so cos x = c has two solutions exactly when −1 < c < 0. Now cos2 2x = c2 means cos 2x = |c| or cos 2x = −|c|, with 0 < |c| < 1. Putting t = 2x turns the range into 0 < t < 3π, which covers one full period plus a half. Each of the two values gives 2 solutions in (0, 2π) and 1 more in (2π,  3π), so 3 each, and the two sets are disjoint because |c| ≠ −|c|. That is 6 solutions.