2020 MEXT Japanese Government Scholarship Undergraduate Students Natural Sciences Qualifying Examination Mathematics (B): Problem 1(5)
Problem 1(5)
The angle \theta\left( 0\lt \theta \lt \frac{\pi}{2}\right) between the two lines y=(2-\sqrt{3})x and y=(\sqrt{3}-2)x on the xy-plane is \fbox{ A }.
Solution
For convenience, let us name the lines l_1 and l_2. \begin{align} l_1: y = (2-\sqrt{3})x\\ l_2: y = (\sqrt{3}-2)x \end{align} Let us also call the angle that l_1 makes with the positive x-axis \theta_1, and the angle that l_2 makes with the positive x-axis \theta_2. The problem seeks to find the angle \theta which is the smaller of |\theta_1-\theta_2| and \pi-|\theta_1-\theta_2|.
In general, the slope of any line can be expressed as the tangent of the angle it makes with the positive x-axis. \begin{align} m_1&=\tan{\theta_1} = 2-\sqrt{3}\\ m_2&=\tan{\theta_2} = \sqrt{3}-2 \end{align}
We notice two things.
- We observe that m_1 \gt 0 because 2 \gt \sqrt{3}. This is even clearer when we take the square of both sides to get 4 \gt 3. This observation means that 0 \lt \theta_1 \lt \frac{\pi}{2}.
- We observe that m_2=-m_1, so we can say that \theta_2 = -\theta_1.
So, now, we are looking for the smaller of |\theta_1-\theta_2|=|\theta_1-(-\theta_2)|=2\theta_1 and \pi-|\theta_1-\theta_2| = \pi-2\theta_1. The absolute value symbol could be removed because we know from the first observation that \theta_1>0.
We can use this with following tangent identity. \begin{align} \tan{2\theta_1} &= \frac{2\tan{\theta_1}}{1-\tan^2{\theta_1}}\\ & = \frac{2\left(2-\sqrt{3}\right)}{1 - (2-\sqrt{3})^2}\\ & = \frac{2\left(2-\sqrt{3}\right)}{1 - (4-4\sqrt{3}+3)}\\ & = \frac{2\left(2-\sqrt{3}\right)}{- 6+4\sqrt{3}}\\ & = \frac{2\left(2-\sqrt{3}\right)}{2(-3+2\sqrt{3})}\\ & = \frac{(2-\sqrt{3})(-3-2\sqrt{3})}{(-3+2\sqrt{3})(-3-2\sqrt{3})}\\ & = \frac{-\sqrt{3}}{-3}\\ & = \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}\\ 2\theta_1 &= \frac{\pi}{6} \end{align}
Therefore, \begin{align} 2\theta_1 &= \frac{\pi}{6}\\ \pi - 2\theta_1 &= \frac{5\pi}{6}, \end{align} and clearly, the smaller between the two values is \frac{\pi}{6}. So, \theta=\frac{\pi}{6}.■
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