Student Video #4:Unit S Concept 3- Using power-reducing formulas

• What is this problem about?
• This problem goes over using power reducing formulas. We are given a problem that has a power to the 4th and we expand it so that the trig function is to the power of two. This is where our power reducing formulas come in. Our whole goal is to make the highest power in the whole problem 1. We use the formulas to get down to the highest power being one. However, for this problem we FOIL and get a function that is squared. Here, we use "m" substitution.
• What does the viewer need to pay special attention to?
• The thing the viewer needs to pay special attention to is how to make the numerator look "nicer" by making it all over 2. Then, we can multiply by the reciprocal of 4 on the bottom in order to take away the fraction. In the end, the denominator is 8. Also, the viewer needs to pay close attention to when they foil and their signs, meaning negative and positive.