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Find the exact value of:

$$\cos 1^{\circ}+\cos 2^{\circ}+\cos 3^{\circ}+ \ldots +\cos 358^{\circ}+\cos 359^{\circ}$$

I got $0$ as I did this by assigning either a positive or negative $x$ variable for each quadrant. Is this method valid and my answer right?

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If you added $\cos 0$, then your analysis would be correct. Therefore, the actual value is...? – Brian Tung 11 hours ago
    
That's why you've to be careful when using 'intuitive reasoning'. Better to work out the algebra to verify it. In this case you compare $\cos(x)$ and $\cos(x+180^\circ)$. – user21820 7 hours ago
    

Almost. Observe that every term except for $\cos(180^{\circ})$ will cancel out.

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The answer is $-1$.

My solution uses vector addition (equivalently, complex number addition).

Think of $\cos n^\circ$ as the $x$-coordinate the point $(\cos n^\circ,\sin n^\circ)$, the point $n$ degrees along the circle. The sum: $$\sum_{n=0}^{359}(\cos n^\circ,\sin n^\circ)$$ is, therefore, the sum of the vertices of a regular $360$-gon centered at the origin. (Notice that it begins at $n=0$, not $n=1$.)

This sum doesn't change when you rotate it by $1^\circ$ around the origin, since rotating a $360$-gon by $1^\circ$ doesn't change it, and since rotation around the origin is a linear map (the rotation of the sum is the sum of the rotations). The only vector that doesn't change when you rotate it around the origin is the origin itself, $(0,0)$. Therefore, the above sum equals $(0,0)$.

Looking at the $x$-coordinate, we get: \begin{align} 0&=\cos0^\circ+\cos1^\circ+\dotsb+\cos359^\circ\\ -\cos0^\circ&= \phantom{\cos0^\circ+{}\!}\cos1^\circ+\dotsb+\cos359^\circ\\ -1&= \phantom{\cos0^\circ+{}\!}\cos1^\circ+\dotsb+\cos359^\circ\\ \end{align}

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You can use Lagrange's trigonometric identity $$\sum_{n=1}^{N}\cos(n\theta)=-\frac{1}{2}+\frac{\sin((N+\frac{1}{2})\theta)}{2\sin(\frac{\theta}{2})}$$ Substituting $N=359$ and $\theta=\frac{\pi}{180}$, you get $$-\frac{1}{2}+\frac{\sin(360-\frac{1}{2})\frac{\pi}{180}}{2\sin(\frac{1}{2}\frac{\pi}{180})}=-\frac{1}{2}+\frac{\sin(2\pi-\frac{\pi}{360})}{2\sin(\frac{\pi}{360})}=-1$$ since $\sin(2\pi-\theta)=-\sin(\theta)$.

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@Brian Tung You are absolutely correct. I will edit the answer. (Should the comments stay, original answer used incorrect, as pointed out by Brian Tung, $\theta=\frac{\pi}{360}$.) – Jan 11 hours ago
    
You can say more than just $\not= 0$; since $\sin(2\pi-\frac{\pi}{360}) = -\sin \frac{\pi}{360}$, we can equate it to $-1$. – Brian Tung 10 hours ago
    
@BrianTung I wasn't going to be so explicit, but since some of the other answers already were, I guess there is no point. – Jan 10 hours ago
    
Perhaps. I wouldn't necessarily change it for that reason, though. – Brian Tung 10 hours ago

$$\cos 1^{\circ}+\cos 2^{\circ}+\cos 3^{\circ}+ \ldots +\cos 358^{\circ}+\cos 359^{\circ}=$$ $$\tfrac{2\sin0.5^{\circ}\cos 1^{\circ}+2\sin0.5^{\circ}\cos 2^{\circ}+2\sin0.5^{\circ}\cos 3^{\circ}+ \ldots +2\sin0.5^{\circ}\cos 358^{\circ}+2\sin0.5^{\circ}\cos 359^{\circ}}{2\sin0.5^{\circ}}$$ and you'll get it

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1  
Is this a joke? – Wildcard 7 hours ago
    
You can now apply one of the trigonometric product identities to each term in the numerator. (This is more complicated than @SarahRubenstein's method but it's more obvious what's left after cancelling terms.) – Ben C 52 mins ago

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