Olympiad Maths Prep

Track / Stage 5 / 181 of 400 #781 of 2000

Problem 781

AIME late
Algebra Difficulty 5.4 Find the answer

11.51 Find the range of the function y=5sinx12cosxy=5 \sin x-12 \cos x.

Official solution

11.51 In the coordinate plane xOyx O y, let's construct the point A(5;12)A(5 ; 12) and consider the vector OA\overline{O A} (Fig. 11.18). Suppose this vector forms an angle φ\varphi with the x-axis. Then, from the figure, it is clear that cosφ=525+144=513,sinφ=1225+144=1213\quad \cos \varphi=\frac{5}{\sqrt{25+144}}=\frac{5}{13}, \quad \sin \varphi=\frac{12}{\sqrt{25+144}}=\frac{12}{13}, tgφ=125,\operatorname{tg} \varphi=\frac{12}{5}, \quad i.e., φ=arctg125\varphi=\operatorname{arctg} \frac{12}{5}. Let's transform the given function as follows:

y=13(513sinx1213cosx)==13(cosφsinxsinφcosx)=13sin(xφ) \begin{aligned} & y=13\left(\frac{5}{13} \sin x-\frac{12}{13} \cos x\right)= \\ & =13(\cos \varphi \sin x-\sin \varphi \cos x)=13 \sin (x-\varphi) \end{aligned}

where φ=arctg125\varphi=\operatorname{arctg} \frac{12}{5}. Clearly, 1sin(xφ)1-1 \leq \sin (x-\varphi) \leq 1, hence 13y13-13 \leq y \leq 13.

Answer: 13y13-13 \leq y \leq 13.

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Fig. 11.18

Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic, difficulty and ordering added by this site.