The value of the expression (1 − sin(2t))⁄(1 + sin(2t)) × (cos(t) + sin(t))⁄(cos(t) − sin(t)) is

- (a)

- (b)

- (c)

- (d)

Answer
Why
Correct — B. Both parts of the first fraction are perfect squares once sin 2t is split.
sin 2t = 2 sin t cos t, and sin²t + cos²t = 1, so
1 − sin 2t = cos²t − 2 sin t cos t + sin²t = (cos t − sin t)²
1 + sin 2t = (cos t + sin t)²
The expression becomes
(cos t − sin t)² ⁄ (cos t + sin t)² × (cos t + sin t) ⁄ (cos t − sin t)
= (cos t − sin t) ⁄ (cos t + sin t)
Divide the top and the bottom by cos t:
= (1 − tan t) ⁄ (1 + tan t) → option (b), the second picture.
Why the others are wrong
- (a)The 2 belongs to sin 2t, not to tan t. Option (a) keeps a coefficient of 2 on each tangent, but the 2 vanishes the moment 1 ± sin 2t is written as a square, and its signs run the other way too.
- (c)Right signs, stray coefficient. Option (c) is the keyed fraction with a 2 stuck to each tangent; dividing (cos t − sin t) by cos t gives plain 1 − tan t, with no number in front.
- (d)The two squares swapped. Option (d) is what a sign slip produces — reading 1 − sin 2t as (cos t + sin t)² and 1 + sin 2t as (cos t − sin t)² inverts the whole fraction.
Concept
The engine here is the pair of identities 1 ± sin 2t = (cos t ± sin t)². They follow from sin²t + cos²t = 1 together with sin 2t = 2 sin t cos t, and they are what turn an ugly fraction into cancelling factors.
The second move is standard: once an expression is homogeneous in sin t and cos t — every term of the same degree — dividing the numerator and denominator by cos t converts it to tan t.
That is why answers to this family of questions arrive in tan form even though no tangent appears in the question.
The stem and all four options are images on this item, so none of the algebra exists as text in the paper; the options are four fractions built from 1, tan t and, in two of them, a coefficient 2.
Key facts
- sin 2t = 2 sin t cos t.
- 1 − sin 2t = (cos t − sin t)² and 1 + sin 2t = (cos t + sin t)², both by sin²t + cos²t = 1.
- Dividing (cos t − sin t) by cos t gives 1 − tan t.
Study next
Common traps
- Expanding everything instead of spotting the perfect square, which leaves a fraction that will not cancel
- Cancelling only one factor of (cos t + sin t) and stopping with a squared denominator
- Never dividing by cos t, so the working stalls before it reaches tan form
SSC's identity items reward recognition rather than expansion — the whole question is over once you see which square is hiding.
The same skill is asked at 25 Sep 2024, 09:00, Quant Q.1 (the value of (cosec θ − sin θ)(sec θ − cos θ)(tan θ + cot θ)) and at 23 Sep 2024, 12:30, Quant Q.18 (given cos A + cos²A = 1, find sin²A + sin⁴A).
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.