Question

Find the exact value of cos(sin^-1(-5/13))

Answer 1

bearing in mind that the hypotenuse is never negative, since it's just a distance unit, so if an angle has a sine ratio of -(5/13) the negative must be the numerator, namely -5/13.

$\bf cos\left[ sin^{-1}\left( -\cfrac{5}{13} \right) \right] \\\\[-0.35em] ~\dotfill\\\\ \stackrel{\textit{then we can say that}~\hfill }{sin^{-1}\left( -\cfrac{5}{13} \right)\implies \theta }\qquad \qquad \stackrel{\textit{therefore then}~\hfill }{sin(\theta )=\cfrac{\stackrel{opposite}{-5}}{\stackrel{hypotenuse}{13}}}\impliedby \textit{let's find the \underline{adjacent}}$

$\bf \textit{using the pythagorean theorem} \\\\ c^2=a^2+b^2\implies \pm\sqrt{c^2-b^2}=a \qquad \begin{cases} c=hypotenuse\\ a=adjacent\\ b=opposite\\ \end{cases} \\\\\\ \pm\sqrt{13^2-(-5)^2}=a\implies \pm\sqrt{144}=a\implies \pm 12=a \\\\[-0.35em] ~\dotfill\\\\ cos\left[ sin^{-1}\left( -\cfrac{5}{13} \right) \right]\implies cos(\theta )=\cfrac{\stackrel{adjacent}{\pm 12}}{13}$

le's bear in mind that the sine is negative on both the III and IV Quadrants, so both angles are feasible for this sine and therefore, for the III Quadrant we'd have a negative cosine, and for the IV Quadrant we'd have a positive cosine.