Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / China Mathematical Competition /38 of 136

China Mathematical Competition

Algebra Difficulty 4.5 AIME Prove it China

Suppose cos⁡5θ−sin⁡5θ<7(sin⁡3θ−cos⁡3θ)\cos^5\theta - \sin^5\theta < 7(\sin^3\theta - \cos^3\theta), θ∈[0,2π)\theta \in [0, 2\pi). Then the range of θ\theta is ______.

Solution

From the inequality
cos⁡5θ−sin⁡5θ<7(sin⁡3θ−cos⁡3θ), \cos^5\theta - \sin^5\theta < 7(\sin^3\theta - \cos^3\theta),
we have
sin⁡3θ+17sin⁡5θ>cos⁡3θ+17cos⁡5θ. \sin^3\theta + \frac{1}{7}\sin^5\theta > \cos^3\theta + \frac{1}{7}\cos^5\theta.
Since f(x)=x3+17x5f(x) = x^3 + \frac{1}{7}x^5 is increasing over (−∞,+∞)(-\infty, +\infty), then sin⁡θ>cos⁡θ\sin \theta > \cos \theta, and that means
2kπ+π4<θ<2kπ+5π4(k∈Z). 2k\pi + \frac{\pi}{4} < \theta < 2k\pi + \frac{5\pi}{4} \quad (k \in \mathbb{Z}).
But θ∈[0,2π)\theta \in [0, 2\pi), so the range of θ\theta is (π4,5π4)(\frac{\pi}{4}, \frac{5\pi}{4}). □\square

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,604 problems in a working order, from Junior Challenge level to the IMO shortlist.

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