How do you solve arccos(tan x)= pi?

1 Answer
Oct 1, 2016

x = -pi/4 + npi" " for any integer n

Explanation:

Given:

arccos(tan x) = pi

Take the cosine of both sides to get:

tan x = -1

The period of tan x is pi, so we have solutions:

x = arctan(-1) + npi" " for any integer n

By considering a right angled triangle with sides 1, 1, sqrt(2) and angles pi/4, pi/4, pi/2 we can deduce that arctan(1) = pi/4

Then tan x is an odd function, so arctan(-1) = -pi/4

So the solutions of our original equation are:

x = -pi/4 + npi" " for any integer n