Solve for ? cos(x)=-1/2

$\cos (x) = - \frac{1}{2}$

Take the inverse cosine of both sides of the equation to extract $x$ from inside the cosine.

$x = \arccos (- \frac{1}{2})$

The exact value of $\arccos (- \frac{1}{2})$ is $\frac{2 π}{3}$ .

$x = \frac{2 π}{3}$

The cosine function is negative in the second and third quadrants. To find the second solution, subtract the reference angle from $2 π$ to find the solution in the third quadrant.

$x = 2 π - \frac{2 π}{3}$

Simplify $2 π - \frac{2 π}{3}$ .

Tap for more steps...

To write $\frac{2 π}{1}$ as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by $\frac{3}{3}$ .

$x = \frac{2 π}{1} \cdot \frac{3}{3} - \frac{2 π}{3}$

Write each expression with a common denominator of $3$ , by multiplying each by an appropriate factor of $1$ .

Tap for more steps...

Combine.

$x = \frac{2 π \cdot 3}{1 \cdot 3} - \frac{2 π}{3}$

Multiply $3$ by $1$ .

$x = \frac{2 π \cdot 3}{3} - \frac{2 π}{3}$

Combine the numerators over the common denominator.

$x = \frac{2 π \cdot 3 - 2 π}{3}$

Simplify the numerator.

Tap for more steps...

Multiply $3$ by $2$ .

$x = \frac{6 π - 2 π}{3}$

Subtract $2 π$ from $6 π$ .

$x = \frac{4 π}{3}$

Find the period.

Tap for more steps...

The period of the function can be calculated using $\frac{2 π}{| b |}$ .

$\frac{2 π}{| b |}$

Replace $b$ with $1$ in the formula for period.

$\frac{2 π}{| 1 |}$

Solve the equation.

Tap for more steps...

The absolute value is the distance between a number and zero. The distance between $0$ and $1$ is $1$ .

$\frac{2 π}{1}$

Divide $2 π$ by $1$ .

$2 π$

The period of the $\cos (x)$ function is $2 π$ so values will repeat every $2 π$ radians in both directions.

$x = \frac{2 π}{3} + 2 π n, \frac{4 π}{3} + 2 π n$ , for any integer $n$

Do you know how to Solve for ? cos(x)=-1/2? If not, you can write to our math experts in our application. The best solution for your task you can find above on this page.