[Math] Determine possible coordinates for point $P$ on the terminal arm of angle

trigonometry

a) If angle $\theta\\$ lies in Quadrant II and
$\sin \theta ={3 \over {\sqrt {45} }}$. Determine possible coordinates for point $P$ on the terminal arm of angle $\theta$.

b) Determine the Quadrant in which angle $\theta$ is located if $\cos\theta < 0$ and $\tan \theta > 0$.

How would I do such a problem?

Best Answer

For part a, $\sin\theta=\frac{3}{\sqrt{45}}=\frac{3}{3\sqrt{5}}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}$ and since we know that the sine of an angle is the opposite over the hypotenuse we can imagine a triangle whose hypotenuse is $\sqrt{5}$ and whose opposite side is $1$. The Pythagorean theorem tells us that the adjacent side is then $\sqrt{\sqrt{5}^2-1^2}=\sqrt{5-1}=2$.

Since we are given that the point must be in the second quadrant, this gives a possible point of $(-2,1)$. Note that any positive multiple of this will also work, e.g. $(-4,2)$.

For part b, we use the fact that the cosine function is negative in the second and third quadrants and the tangent is positive in the first and third quadrants. Therefore, $\theta$ must be in the third quadrant for both conditions to be satisfied.