NCERT Class 12 Maths | Chapter 2 Inverse Trigonometric Functions
Question
Solve the equation \[ \cos(\tan^{-1}x) = \sin(\cot^{-1}\frac{3}{4}) \]
[NCERT Exemplar 2.3, Question 11, Page 36]
Solution
We have:
\[ \cos(\tan^{-1}x) = \sin(\cot^{-1}\frac{3}{4}) \]
Using inverse trigonometric identities:
\[ \cos(\tan^{-1}x) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{x^2 + 1}}, \quad \sin(\cot^{-1}\frac{3}{4}) = \frac{4}{5} \]
Let \(\tan^{-1}x = \theta_1 \Rightarrow \tan \theta_1 = x\), then
\[ \cos \theta_1 = \frac{1}{\sqrt{x^2 + 1}} \Rightarrow \theta_1 = \cos^{-1} \frac{1}{\sqrt{x^2 + 1}} \]
And \(\cot^{-1}\frac{3}{4} = \theta_2 \Rightarrow \cot \theta_2 = \frac{3}{4}\), then
\[ \sin \theta_2 = \frac{4}{5} \Rightarrow \theta_2 = \sin^{-1} \frac{4}{5} \]
Equating both sides:
\[ \frac{1}{\sqrt{x^2 + 1}} = \frac{4}{5}, \quad \text{(since } \sin(\sin^{-1} y) = y, \; y \in [-1,1]) \]
Squaring both sides:
\[ 16(x^2 + 1) = 25 \Rightarrow 16x^2 = 9 \Rightarrow x^2 = \left(\frac{3}{4}\right)^2 \]
Therefore:
\[ \boxed{x = \pm \frac{3}{4}} \]
