Thread: reducing trig functions to a single function

Hi
I'm trying to reduce a function in the form
Acos(x)+Bsin(x)
to a single function.
I know that to do this you need to multiply and divide by sqrt(A^2+B^2), but I don't know where to go from there. Can anyone help with this?

Originally Posted by Defiant

Hi
I'm trying to reduce a function in the form
Acos(x)+Bsin(x)
to a single function.
I know that to do this you need to multiply and divide by sqrt(A^2+B^2), but I don't know where to go from there. Can anyone help with this?

Now define and use the compound angle formula. You get .

Thanks alot...kinda stupid, that was the only thing my entire DE was stuck on...