1) First of all, notice that you tried to take the inverse cosine/tangent of
53, but that fraction is equal to
sinx so you were in fact trying to take the inverse of a function of the angle (sorry if that sounds confusing). You should review the purpose of inverse functions. In any case, the inverse trigonometric functions are used to
find angles. For this problem, the only inverse function that you
could use is the
inverse sine function to find your angle
x. Once you have the correct angle, you can then take the cosine/tangent of the angle using your calculator.
I would highly recommend that you draw the graphs of sine and cosine, or a diagram of triangle in a unit circle if you have come across that representation. You can get the correct value of
x by symmetry.
Alternatively, you can avoid using inverse functions altogether. Using the identity
sin2(x)+cos2(x)=1, you can rearrange to find
cosx without using a calculator, noting that an obtuse angle gives a
negative value for cosine (this is where the graph/diagram helps). Then you use the identity
tanx=cosxsinx and you're done.
2) The term
(1+3x)5 can be expanded quickly using the
binomial theorem. You can speed up the process further by noting that the polynomial on the right-hand side is a cubic, so you won't need to evaluate the
x4 or
x5 terms on the left. You then multiply the two remaining polynomials on the left-hand side and compare the coefficients to deduce a, b and c.
3) The answer will in fact depend on the base, but I will assume that you mean base 10. As Phredd said, you will first need
nloga=log(an). You will also need to note that
1=log10, and finally that
loga+logb=log(a×b).
Don't hesitate to ask if this confuses you, although I hope it does not.