SOLUTION: The point (3, -4) is on the terminal side of an angle . What is cos ?

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Question 1040287: The point (3, -4) is on the terminal side of an angle . What is cos ?
Answer by Edwin McCravy(20060) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
The x-coordinate, 3, is the adjacent side.
The y-coordinate, -4, is the opposite side.
The hypotenuse is worked out with the Pythagorean theorem:

hypotenuse%22%22=%22%22sqrt%28adjacent%5E2%2Bopposite%5E2%29 
hypotenuse%22%22=%22%22sqrt%28%283%29%5E2%2B%28-4%29%5E2%29
hypotenuse%22%22=%22%22sqrt%289%2B16%29
hypotenuse%22%22=%22%22sqrt%2825%29
hypotenuse%22%22=%22%225

And we want the cosine.

We learned that cosine%22%22=%22%22adjacent%2Fhypotenuse

So the cosine is 

cosine%22%22=%22%22adjacent%2Fhypotenuse%22%22=%22%223%2F5

Edwin