Evaluate the function f(x)=cos(-x) at x=4π/3.

1 answer

To evaluate the function \( f(x) = \cos(-x) \) at \( x = \frac{4\pi}{3} \), we proceed as follows:

First, substitute \( x \) into the function:

\[ f\left(\frac{4\pi}{3}\right) = \cos\left(-\frac{4\pi}{3}\right) \]

Using the property of cosine that \( \cos(-\theta) = \cos(\theta) \), we get:

\[ \cos\left(-\frac{4\pi}{3}\right) = \cos\left(\frac{4\pi}{3}\right) \]

Next, we need to find \( \cos\left(\frac{4\pi}{3}\right) \). The angle \( \frac{4\pi}{3} \) is located in the third quadrant, where the cosine function is negative.

To find the reference angle, we can subtract \( \pi \) (which is \( \frac{3\pi}{3} \)) from \( \frac{4\pi}{3} \):

\[ \frac{4\pi}{3} - \pi = \frac{4\pi}{3} - \frac{3\pi}{3} = \frac{\pi}{3} \]

Now we can evaluate \( \cos\left(\frac{4\pi}{3}\right) \):

\[ \cos\left(\frac{4\pi}{3}\right) = -\cos\left(\frac{\pi}{3}\right) \]

Since \( \cos\left(\frac{\pi}{3}\right) = \frac{1}{2} \), we have:

\[ \cos\left(\frac{4\pi}{3}\right) = -\frac{1}{2} \]

Therefore, we conclude:

\[ f\left(\frac{4\pi}{3}\right) = \cos\left(-\frac{4\pi}{3}\right) = -\frac{1}{2} \]

Thus, the final result is:

\[ \boxed{-\frac{1}{2}} \]