trig help please, im not sure what im doing wrong?

Question

Use a calculator to find theta to the nearest tenth of a degree, if 0< theta < 360 and cot theta = -0.7632 with theta in QII

what is theta

ok so i have worked the problem so far 1/tan-1(0.7632)=but im get a very small decimal number instead of a number i could use to subtract from 180 or add to 180.. what am i doing wrong?

Answer 1

cot Θ = 1/tan Θ = -0.7632, so
tan Θ = -1/0.7632 = -1.3103, and then
Θ = inv tan -1.3103 = -52.649°, and in quadrant 2 that's 127.351°

Answer 2

First change things to tan by doing 1 divided by -0.7632. Then do inverse tan of the number you get, and then find all the equivalents greater than 0 and less than 360.

Your mistake was that you were doing the right steps in the wrong order.

Answer 3

If I understood well your question you want the solution of the following equation: cot(theta)= - 0.7632, which means
1/tan(theta)= -0.7632=>tan(theta)=1/(- 0.7632)=>
tan(theta)= -1.310. Now you need a calculator with atan or tan^-1 (its the same). Theta= atan(- 1.310)= -52.6 deg. This means 360-52.6= 307.4 deg. Hope this answers your question.

Answer 4

127.35 is the answer. When you take the inverse tangent of 1/.7632, make sure your calculator is set to "degrees" and not radians!