Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 4.9 AIME Prove it Slovenia

Does the equation cos(sinx)=sin(cosx)\cos(\sin x) = \sin(\cos x) have at least one real solution?

Solution

Rewrite the equation as cos(sinx)=cos(π2cosx)\cos(\sin x) = \cos\left(\frac{\pi}{2} - \cos x\right). This implies that π2cosx=±sinx+2kπ\frac{\pi}{2} - \cos x = \pm \sin x + 2k\pi for some kZk \in \mathbb{Z}, so cosx±sinx=π22kπ\cos x \pm \sin x = \frac{\pi}{2} - 2k\pi. Since cosx±sinxcosx+sinx2|\cos x \pm \sin x| \le |\cos x| + |\sin x| \le 2, we have k=0k=0, and so cosx±sinx=π2\cos x \pm \sin x = \frac{\pi}{2}. Squaring both sides of the equation we get cos2x±2cosxsinx+sin2x=π24\cos^2 x \pm 2\cos x\sin x + \sin^2 x = \frac{\pi^2}{4} or ±sin2x=π241\pm \sin 2x = \frac{\pi^2}{4} - 1. Since π241>941>1\frac{\pi^2}{4} - 1 > \frac{9}{4} - 1 > 1, this equation has no real solutions, so the initial equation does not have any real solutions either.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.