http://www.ck12.org Chapter 6. Analytic Trigonometry
Example B
Determine the general solution to the following equation.
cotx− 1 = 0
Solution:
cotx− 1 = 0
cotx= 1One solution isx=π 4. However, since this question asks for the general solution, you need to find every possible
solution. You have to know that cotangent has a period ofπwhich means if you add or subtractπfromπ 4 then it
will also yield a height of 1. To capture all these other possiblexvalues you should use this notation.
x=π 4 ±n·πwherenis a integer
Example C