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Proof of Sin 18

The document uses trigonometric identities to find the value of sin 18°. It starts with the double-angle formulas for sin 72° and sin 36° and multiplies the equations. Through substitutions and cancellations, it derives the equations 1 = 2cos36°sin18° and 1/2 = cos36° - sin18°. Solving these equations leads to the final values of sin18° = 5/4 and cos18° = (10+√5)/4.

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Seshu Phani
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311 views

Proof of Sin 18

The document uses trigonometric identities to find the value of sin 18°. It starts with the double-angle formulas for sin 72° and sin 36° and multiplies the equations. Through substitutions and cancellations, it derives the equations 1 = 2cos36°sin18° and 1/2 = cos36° - sin18°. Solving these equations leads to the final values of sin18° = 5/4 and cos18° = (10+√5)/4.

Uploaded by

Seshu Phani
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Using identities to nd sin 18

By the double-angle formula for sine, we know that sin 72 = 2 sin 36 cos 36

and

sin 36 = 2 sin 18 cos 18 ,

so multiplying the two equations together gives sin 72 sin 36 = 4 sin 36 cos 36 sin 18 cos 18 . But sin 72 = cos (90 72 ) = cos 18 , and this substitution into the above equation allows some cancellation:
sin 36 cos 36 sin 18 sin 36 = 4 1 cos 18 cos 18

Dividing both sides by 2 yields: 1 = 2 cos 36 sin 18 2 By the product-to-sum formula 2 cos A sin B = sin ( A + B) sin ( A B) with A = 36 and B = 18 , we get 2 cos 36 sin 18 = sin 54 sin 18 , which combined with equation (1) gives 1 2 1 cos 36 sin 18 = 2 sin 54 sin 18 = , and so (2) (1)

since sin 54 = cos (90 54 ) = cos 36 . Also, by the factorization a2 b2 = (a + b)(a b), we have cos 36 + sin 18 cos 36 + sin 18
2

cos 36 sin 18

= cos 36 + sin 18 + cos 36 sin 18 = 2 cos 36

cos 36 + sin 18 cos 36 sin 18 , so

2 sin 18

= 2 2 cos 36 sin 18

cos 36 sin 18

2 2

= 1

by equation (1), and thus


2

cos 36 + sin 18

= 1 + cos 36 sin 18

= 1+

1 2

5 4

by equation (2), so

5 . 2 Since cos 36 + sin 18 (cos 36 sin 18 ) = 2 sin 18 , subtracting equation (2) from equation (3) gives cos 36 + sin 18 = 2 sin 18 = sin 18 = Note that this allows us to nd cos 18 : cos 18 = 1 sin 18 = 1
2

(3)

5 1 2 2 51 . 4

, and so

51 4

10 + 2 5 16

cos 18 =

10 + 2 5 4

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