
Tia R.
asked 04/04/20are sine and cosine equal for non-acute complementary angles?
for example, when writing a proof, is it logical to write the following:
cos(-ø)=sin(π/2+ø) (∵ the cosine of an angle is equal to the sine of its complementary angle)
I ask because this complementary idea is usually applied within a right-angled triangle, so i'm not sure if it holds outside of acute angles.
1 Expert Answer

Al P. answered 04/04/20
Precalculus tutoring
cos(α) = sin(π/2-α) holds for all α
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Lois C.
I'm curious as to the wording of your question. If the angles are non-acute ( meaning 90 degrees or more), then they cannot be complementary since, by definition, complementary angles are two angles whose measures sum to 90 degrees.04/04/20