Question

(sinx)^8 + (cosx)^8=17/32

Answer 1

I give up.

I have several pages of messy identity calculations, and am not getting anywhere.

so tried some guesses:

x -------- RS = 17/32 = .53125

.25 --- .776
.5 -----.35
.4 ---- .5185
.39 --- .5359
.395 --- .5272
.3935 --- .5298

so there seems to be a solution around x = .3935

I would be interested to know how to do this question.