0

I understand that the argument of a trigonometric function must be a pure number (a radian, if you will) and hence when we talk of 'measuring angles in degrees' we mean things such as $sin(x\frac{\pi}{180}) = sin(x^\circ)$ where $x$ is 'pure number' and not 'measured in' anything. Now say I wanted to find out when $sin$ was equal to $0.5$, I would write down either, $sin(x^\circ) = 0.5$ or $sin(x) = 0.5$, in the first case I think the first few answers are $x=30$ and $x=150$, in the second case I think the answers are $x=30^\circ=\frac{\pi}{6}$ and $x=150^\circ = \frac{5\pi}{6}$. Which way is the 'accpeted' approach? Do we pre-emptively put the degree symbol into the expression or do we add that to our variable?

Nav Bhatthal
  • 1,057
  • 2
    I have never seen anyone write $\sin{x^{\circ}}$. Usually you just say whether you are using radians or degrees and it is understood that the sine of thirty degrees is the same as the sine of $\frac{\pi}{6}$ radians. – John Douma Oct 22 '23 at 14:15
  • Is it acceptable to write $x=30^\circ$ then? Where $30^\circ$ just means the number $\frac{\pi}{6}$ – Nav Bhatthal Oct 22 '23 at 14:17
  • 1
    I would imagine that whether or not it was acceptable would depend on the audience. I don't think there is a generally accepted approach – Sam Ballas Oct 22 '23 at 14:26

0 Answers0