Question
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1. Lulama was asked to evaluate the following expression without the use of a calculator: \( \sin \left(180^{\circ}-135^{\circ}\right) \). She answered as follows: \[ \begin{array}{l} \operatorname{Sin}\left(180^{\circ}-135^{\circ}\right)=\sin 180^{\circ}-\sin 135^{\circ} \\ =0-\sin \left(180^{\circ}-45^{\circ}\right) \text { (step 1) } \\ \text { (step2) } \\ = \text { (step 3) } \\ =-\frac{\sin 45^{\circ}}{2} \text { (step 4) }\end{array} \] \( \begin{array}{ll}\text { 1.1. What law or property did Lulama use to write step 1? } & \text { (1) }\end{array} \) 1.2 Do you think Lulama is correct? Motivate your answer?

Ask by Medina Powers. in South Africa
Feb 22,2025

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Tutor-Verified Answer

Answer

1.1. Lulama used an incorrect property by assuming that sin(180° - 135°) equals sin(180°) - sin(135°). There's no such property for the sine function. 1.2. Lulama is not correct. The proper formula for the sine of a difference is sin(α - β) = sin(α)cos(β) - cos(α)sin(β). Applying this correctly, sin(180° - 135°) equals sin(135°), which is (√2)/2.

Solution

1.1. Lulama used a faulty “distributive” property of sine. In other words, she assumed that   sin(180° – 135°) = sin(180°) – sin(135°). There is no law that permits distributing the sine function over subtraction. 1.2. Lulama is not correct. The correct formula for the sine of a difference is   sin(α – β) = sin(α)·cos(β) – cos(α)·sin(β). Applying this to 180° – 135° would yield   sin(180° – 135°) = sin(180°)·cos(135°) – cos(180°)·sin(135°). Since sin(180°) = 0 and cos(180°) = –1, this simplifies to   0·cos(135°) – (–1)·sin(135°) = sin(135°). In fact, we know that sin(135°) = sin(180° – 45°) = sin(45°) = (√2)/2. Thus, the method Lulama used (writing sin(180° - 135°) as sin(180°) - sin(135°)) is not valid.

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Extra Insights

The law Lulama used in step 1 is the sine of the difference formula, or more appropriately, it can be seen as a misapplication of the sine function properties. Lulama attempted to simplify the expression by relating the sine of angles, but she mistakenly substituted the sine of offsets instead of correctly applying the sine angle subtraction. Lulama's answer is incorrect. The expression \(180^\circ - 135^\circ\) simplifies to \(45^\circ\), and according to the properties of sine, \(\sin(45^\circ) = \frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}\). So the actual simplification should have led her to conclude that \(\sin(45^\circ) = \frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}\) rather than the incorrect result she arrived at.

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