Maths Olympiad Prep

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Problem 775

AMC 12 late, AIME early
Geometry Difficulty 4.2 Find the answer Annual Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament · United States

Compute arctan(tan652tan40)\arctan \left(\tan 65^{\circ}-2 \tan 40^{\circ}\right). (Express your answer in degrees as an angle between 00^{\circ} and 180180^{\circ}.)

A number or a short expression. Fractions can be typed as 3/2, and spacing doesn't matter.

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Official solution

Solution:

Answer: 2525^{\circ}

First Solution: We have
tan652tan40=cot252cot50=cot25cot2251cot25=1cot25=tan25. \tan 65^{\circ}-2 \tan 40^{\circ}=\cot 25^{\circ}-2 \cot 50^{\circ}=\cot 25^{\circ}-\frac{\cot ^{2} 25^{\circ}-1}{\cot 25^{\circ}}=\frac{1}{\cot 25^{\circ}}=\tan 25^{\circ} .
Therefore, the answer is 2525^{\circ}.

Second Solution: We have
tan652tan40=1+tan201tan204tan201tan220=(1tan20)2(1tan20)(1+tan20)=tan(4520)=tan25. \tan 65^{\circ}-2 \tan 40^{\circ}=\frac{1+\tan 20^{\circ}}{1-\tan 20^{\circ}}-\frac{4 \tan 20^{\circ}}{1-\tan ^{2} 20^{\circ}}=\frac{\left(1-\tan 20^{\circ}\right)^{2}}{\left(1-\tan 20^{\circ}\right)\left(1+\tan 20^{\circ}\right)}=\tan \left(45^{\circ}-20^{\circ}\right)=\tan 25^{\circ} .
Again, the answer is 2525^{\circ}.

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