Given the expression sin (3x + 10 degree) = cos (2x - 10 degree), which of the following uses the relationship between the sine and cosine of complementary angles to correctly determine the value of x?

a. 16 degree
b. 18 degree
c. 36 degree
d. 22 degree

1 answer

To solve the equation \( \sin(3x + 10^\circ) = \cos(2x - 10^\circ) \), we can use the relationship between sine and cosine of complementary angles. Specifically, we know that:

\[ \sin(\theta) = \cos(90^\circ - \theta) \]

Therefore, we can rewrite the equation as:

\[ \sin(3x + 10^\circ) = \sin(90^\circ - (2x - 10^\circ)) \]

Simplifying the right side:

\[ \sin(3x + 10^\circ) = \sin(90^\circ - 2x + 10^\circ) = \sin(100^\circ - 2x) \]

This gives us two possible cases:

  1. \( 3x + 10^\circ = 100^\circ - 2x + 360^\circ n \) for any integer \( n \)
  2. \( 3x + 10^\circ = 180^\circ - (100^\circ - 2x) + 360^\circ n \) for any integer \( n \)

However, we'll focus on the principal values (n = 0).

For the first equation:

\[ 3x + 10^\circ = 100^\circ - 2x \]

Rearranging terms gives:

\[ 3x + 2x = 100^\circ - 10^\circ \] \[ 5x = 90^\circ \] \[ x = 18^\circ \]

Now we will check the second case:

For the second equation:

\[ 3x + 10^\circ = 180^\circ - 100^\circ + 2x \] \[ 3x + 10^\circ = 80^\circ + 2x \]

Rearranging gives:

\[ 3x - 2x = 80^\circ - 10^\circ \] \[ x = 70^\circ \]

This solution is outside the choices given. Therefore, we only consider \( x = 18^\circ \).

The correct answer is:

b. 18 degree