Tangent Equality Angle
Find the degree measure of the least positive angle $ \theta $ for which
\[\tan \theta = \frac{\cos 5^\circ \cos 20^\circ + \cos 35^\circ \cos 50^\circ - \sin 5^\circ \sin 20^\circ - \sin 35^\circ \sin 50^\circ}{\sin 5^\circ \cos 20^\circ - \sin 35^\circ \cos 50^\circ + \cos 5^\circ \sin 20^\circ - \cos 35^\circ \sin 50^\circ}.\]
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- $\frac{a}{b}$
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Solution
From the angle addition formula, the numerator is
\begin{align*}
&(\cos 5^\circ \cos 20^\circ - \sin 5^\circ \sin 20^\circ) + (\cos 35^\circ \cos 50^\circ - \sin 35^\circ \sin 50^\circ) \\
&= \cos (5^\circ + 20^\circ) + \cos (35^\circ + 50^\circ) \\
&= \cos 25^\circ + \cos 85^\circ.\end{align*}From the sum-to-product formula, $ \cos 25^\circ + \cos 85^\circ = 2 \cos 55^\circ \cos 30^\circ $.
Similarly, the denominator is
\begin{align*}
&\sin 5^\circ \cos 20^\circ - \sin 35^\circ \cos 50^\circ + \cos 5^\circ \sin 20^\circ - \cos 35^\circ \sin 50^\circ) \\
&= (\sin 5^\circ \cos 20^\circ + \cos 5^\circ \sin 20^\circ) - (\sin 35^\circ \cos 50^\circ + \cos 35^\circ \sin 50^\circ) \\
&= \sin (5^\circ + 20^\circ) - \sin (35^\circ + 50^\circ) \\
&= \sin 25^\circ - \sin 85^\circ \\
&= -2 \sin 30^\circ \cos 55^\circ,
\end{align*}so the expression is equal to
\[\frac{2 \cos 55^\circ \cos 30^\circ}{-2 \sin 30^\circ \cos 55^\circ} = -\frac{\cos 30^\circ}{\sin 30^\circ} = -\sqrt{3} = \tan 120^\circ.\]Hence, the smallest such $ \theta $ is $ \boxed{120^\circ} $.
Freeflows