Related papers: An elementary trigonometric equation
It is well known that sin(a\pi/b), cos(a\pi/b), etc., are only rational numbers for a few select integers a and b. We show that this is equivalent to the fact that only for d = 1,2,3,4, and 6 is the primitive dth root of unity of degree 2…
Given a rational number $r$ such that $2r$ is not an integer, we prove that $\tan^2(r\pi)$ is irrational unless it is equal to $0$, $1$, $3$ or $\frac{1}{3}$, using only basic trigonometry and the Rational Root Theorem. Moreover, we deduce…
We use recurrences of integrals to give new and elementary proofs of the irrationality of pi, tan(r) for all nonzero rational r, and cos(r) for all nonzero rational r^2. Immediate consequences to other values of the elementary…
Let p be a prime = 3 (mod 4). A number of elegant number-theoretical properties of the sums T(p) = \sqrt{p}sum_{n=1}^{(p-1)/2} tan(n^2\pi/p) and C(p) = \sqrt{p}sum_{n=1}^{(p-1)/2} cot(n^2\pi/p) are proved. For example, T(p) equals p times…
An $N$-tiling of triangle $ABC$ by triangle $T$ (the `tile') is a way of writing $ABC$ as a union of $N$ copies of $T$ overlapping only at their boundaries. Let the tile $T$ have angles $(\alpha,\beta,\gamma)$, and sides $(a,b,c)$. This…
It is shown that with appropriate boundary conditions, a real function satisfying the differential equation $f'(x) = f(x+a)$ has all known properties of the sine function. A number of elementary derivations are presented including proofs…
A positive integer $n$ is called a $\theta$-congruent number if there is a triangle with sides $a,b$ and $c$ for which the angle between $a$ and $b$ is equal to $\theta$ and its area is $n\sqrt{r^2 - s^2}$, where $0 < \theta < \pi$, $\cos…
If the cosine of a rational multiple of $\pi$ is a rational number then it is an integral multiple of $\frac12$. For this fact, we give a proof accessible to an interested school student. We then discuss which quadratic and cubic…
We study in details how and when the radical $\sqrt[3]{a+b\sqrt p}$ with rational numbers $a,b$ and $p$ positive can be simplified, providing a complete answer to the problem; furthermore, a program that computes the result is also made…
We construct a set of points with $\Omega(n^2\log n)$ triples determining an angle $\theta$ whenever $\tan(\theta)$ is algebraic over $\mathbb{Q}$, matching the upper bound of Pach and Sharir. This improves upon the original construction,…
Given any two rational numbers $r_1$ and $r_2$, a necessary and sufficient condition is established for the three numbers $1$, $\cos (\pi r_1)$, and $\cos (\pi r_2)$ to be rationally independent. Extending a classical fact sometimes…
We prove that if $\rho\neq1/2$ is a rational number between zero and one, then there is no integer $n>1$ such that $$ n\tan(\pi\rho)=\tan(n\pi\rho). $$ This has interpretations both in the theory of bicycle curves and that of mathematical…
Given a real cubic function $f(x)$ with three roots, take an equilateral triangle $ABC$, the projections of which vertices are the roots of $f(x)$. There is a folklore fact that the vertical lines through the extrema of $f(x)$ are tangent…
We first review some topics in the classical computational geometry of lines, in particular the O(n^{3+\epsilon}) bounds for the combinatorial complexity of the set of lines in R^3 interacting with $n$ objects of fixed description…
For finite sets A and B in the plane, we write A+B to denote the set of sums of the elements of A and B. In addition, we write tr(A) to denote the common number of triangles in any triangulation of the convex hull of A using the points of A…
This article provides a simple trigonometric method for determining how many roots of a quartic equation are real and how many are complex, without solving the equation. The approach replaces the quartic's classical discriminant -- a…
We investigate broken rational tori consisting of a chain of four (rather than two) periodic orbits. The normal form that describes this configuration is identified and used to construct a uniform semiclassical approximation, which can be…
Pythagorean triples are the positive integer solutions to the Pythagoras equation for right triangles, a2+b2 = c2. They have been studied for many years, many centuries in fact. In this short paper we present a method for computing…
We study the initial value problem '$s\,' = c^{p - 1}, \; c\,' = -s^{p - 1}; \; \; s(0) = 0, \; c(0) = 1$' (both as a real system and as a complex system) for each integer $p > 2$, considering separately the cases '$p$ even' and '$p$ odd'.
In this work, we obtain an iterative formula that can be used for computing digits of $\pi$ and nested radicals of kind $c_n/\sqrt{2 - c_{n - 1}}$, where $c_0 = 0$ and $c_n = \sqrt{2 + c_{n - 1}}$. We also show how with the help of this…