Prove that $\sin nx\le n\sin x$, by Induction

algebra-precalculusinductioninequalitysolution-verificationtrigonometry

I have to prove that $\sin nx\le n\sin x,\ \forall n\in\mathbb{N},\ 0\le x\le \pi/2$, using Mathematical Induction.
The problem arises during the inductive step. What I've done so far, is
$$\sin(k+1)x=\sin(kx+x)=\sin kx\cos x + \sin x\cos kx.$$
Since $\cos x\le1,\ \forall x\in[0, \pi/2]$, we have that $\sin kx\cos x\le\sin kx\le k\sin x\ \text{(by the inductive hypothesis)}$, obtaining
$$\sin(k+1)x\le k\sin x +\sin x\cos kx.$$
I need to prove that the last term is $\le\sin x$, but I'm not sure that what I've done until now is correct, since $\sin$ and $\cos$ are nonnegative for $x$, but not for $kx$.

If the statement to prove had the modulus, it would be easier to be proven.

Best Answer

You also have that $\sin x\ge0$ and from $\cos kx\le1$ you conclude that $$ \sin x\cos kx\le\sin x $$ So this is the easy step.

The issue is to prove $\sin kx\cos x\le k\sin x$, where your argument is faulty. But this is not a real problem: if $\sin kx\le0$, then $\sin kx\cos x\le0\le k\sin x$. If $\sin kx>0$, then from $\cos x\le 1$ you obtain $\sin kx\cos x\le \sin kx$ and you can apply the induction hypothesis.

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