Problem

Use a sum or difference formula to find the exact value of the following.
\[
\cos \frac{5 \pi}{7} \cos \frac{5 \pi}{42}-\sin \frac{5 \pi}{7} \sin \frac{5 \pi}{42}
\]

Answer

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Answer

Final Answer: The exact value of the given expression is \(\boxed{-\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}}\).

Steps

Step 1 :The given expression is in the form of the cosine of the sum of two angles. The formula for the cosine of the sum of two angles is given by: \(\cos(a + b) = \cos a \cos b - \sin a \sin b\)

Step 2 :So, we can rewrite the given expression as the cosine of the sum of the two angles \(\frac{5 \pi}{7}\) and \(\frac{5 \pi}{42}\).

Step 3 :Let's denote \(a = \frac{5\pi}{7}\) and \(b = \frac{5\pi}{42}\).

Step 4 :The sum of the angles is \(a + b = \frac{5\pi}{6}\).

Step 5 :Using the cosine function, we find that the cosine of the sum of the angles is \(\cos(\frac{5\pi}{6}) = -\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}\).

Step 6 :Final Answer: The exact value of the given expression is \(\boxed{-\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}}\).

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