Find the first 50 positive roots of the given function usig mathcad
in Other Math Topics by

Your answer

Your name to display (optional):
Privacy: Your email address will only be used for sending these notifications.
Anti-spam verification:
To avoid this verification in future, please log in or register.

1 Answer

I do not have have access to Mathcad so I'm unable to generate 50 roots, so I have provided the first seven roots only. (Method: trial and error.)

Plotting the graph of cot(x) and 0.45x on the same axes helps to find coarse solutions. Where the line cuts the curve is a solution or root of cot(x)-0.45x. The cot curve is cyclic and cuts the x axis at odd multiples of 90 degrees or (pi)/2 radians. So there is always a solution between 180n and 180n+90 degrees, n(pi) and n(pi)+(pi)/2 radians, where n>0.

If x is in degrees, these are the first 7 positive solutions for x:

11.2114, 180.7046, 360.3533, 540.2357, 720.1768, 900.14145, 1080.1179.

You can see that as the root gets larger its value gets closer to a multiple of 180 degrees.

If x is measured in radians, these are the first 7 positive solutions for x:

1.1082, 3.6843, 6.6076, 9.6511, 12.7391, 15.8473, 18.9662

[As the root gets larger the difference between itself and the previous solution gets closer to (pi) (3.14 approx).
22/7 is slightly bigger than pi, but every 7th root in the succession of roots is going to be roughly 22 larger than the 7th previous root. This fact can help us to quickly find every 7th root: 14th, 21st, 28th, 35th, 42nd, 49th. The 14th root should be roughly 19+22=41. Let's see what it actually is: 40.895. Close. Add 22 to this to get the 21st root: 62.9. The actual value is 62.8672. To get the 49th root we need to add approximately 28(pi) or 88=150.9. Actual: 150.8112. Something similar happens when x is in degrees.]

by Top Rated User (1.2m points)

Related questions

1 answer
asked Feb 18, 2013 in Algebra 2 Answers by anonymous | 1.0k views
1 answer
asked Nov 28, 2012 in Algebra 1 Answers by anonymous | 736 views
1 answer
1 answer
1 answer
asked Dec 17, 2012 in Trigonometry Answers by anonymous | 1.4k views
1 answer
1 answer
1 answer
asked Mar 19, 2012 in Calculus Answers by anonymous | 840 views
2 answers
2 answers
Welcome to MathHomeworkAnswers.org, where students, teachers and math enthusiasts can ask and answer any math question. Get help and answers to any math problem including algebra, trigonometry, geometry, calculus, trigonometry, fractions, solving expression, simplifying expressions and more. Get answers to math questions. Help is always 100% free!
87,516 questions
100,279 answers
2,420 comments
732,217 users