Find range of cos(sin x) ?

1 Answer
Jun 12, 2018

See below.

Explanation:

Let #f:RR -> A#, #f(x)=cos(sinx)#.

There are multiple ways to go about this. We can use the fact that #f# is a composed function or do it directly. We'll use the second approach.

We know that the range of #sinx# and #cosx# is #[-1,1]#. Hence, The range of #cos(sinx)# will be located in the interval #[-1,1]#. However, the exact range, denoted #A# in this answer, is going to be:

#A=[cos(x_1),cos(x_2)]#

Where #cos(x_1)# is the minimal cosine value in the interval #[-1,1]# and #cos(x_2)# is the maximum value. As #cos(x)# is periodic, so will #cos(sinx)#.

On the interval #[-1,0]# the cosine function is monotonic increasing, hence the minimal value of #cosx# is going to be when #x=-1#. Similarly, as the cosine is monotic decreasing on #[0,1]#, this means #x=0# is the max value and it also means that #x=1# is also the minimal value.

#:. A = [cos(-1), cos0]=[cos1,cos0]=[cos1,1]#

Thus, the range is

#color(red)(A=[cos1, 1]#