- $\cos \theta = -\frac{4}{5}$
Solution:
Given that
$2\vec{\text{a}}+\vec{\text{b}}=\vec{\text{p}}\dots(1)$
$\vec{\text{a}}+2\vec{\text{b}}=\vec{\text{q}}\dots(2)$
Solving these two we get
$\vec{\text{a}}=\frac{2\vec{\text{p}}-\vec{\text{q}}}{3},\vec{\text{b}}=\frac{2\vec{\text{q}}-\vec{\text{p}}}{3}$
And we have
$\vec{\text{p}}=\hat{\text{i}}+\hat{\text{j}}$ and $\vec{\text{q}}=\hat{\text{i}}-\hat{\text{j}}$
Substituting the values of $\vec{\text{p}}$ and $\vec{\text{q}},$ we get
$\vec{\text{a}}=\frac{2\vec{\text{p}}-\vec{\text{q}}}{3}=\frac{2\big(\hat{\text{i}}+\hat{\text{j}}\big)-\big(\hat{\text{i}}-\hat{\text{j}}\big)}{3}=\frac{\hat{\text{i}}+3\hat{\text{j}}}{3}$
$\Rightarrow|\vec{\text{a}}|=\frac{1}{3}\sqrt{1+9}=\frac{\sqrt{10}}{3}$
$\vec{\text{b}}=\frac{2\vec{\text{q}}-\vec{\text{p}}}{3}=\frac{2\big(\hat{\text{i}}-\hat{\text{j}}\big)-\big(\hat{\text{i}}+\hat{\text{j}}\big)}{3}=\frac{\hat{\text{i}}-3\hat{\text{j}}}{3}$
$\Rightarrow\big|\vec{\text{b}}\big|=\frac{1}{3}\sqrt{1+9}=\frac{\sqrt{10}}{3}$
$\vec{\text{a}}.\vec{\text{b}}=\frac{1}{9}(1-9)=\frac{-8}{9}$
We know that
$\vec{\text{a}}.\vec{\text{b}}=|\vec{\text{a}}|\big|\vec{\text{b}}\big|\cos\theta$
$\Rightarrow\frac{-8}{9}=\frac{\sqrt{10}}{3}\times\frac{\sqrt{10}}{3}\cos\theta$
$\Rightarrow\frac{-8}{9}=\frac{10}{9}\cos\theta$
$\Rightarrow\cos\theta=\frac{-8}{9}\times\frac{9}{10}=\frac{-4}{5}$