1cos 40+1cos 80+1cos 160
=1cos 40+1cos 80-1cos 20
=cos 40+cos 80cos 40 x cos 80-1cos 20
=2cos 60 x cos 20cos 40 x cos 80-1cos 20
=cos220- (cos 40 x cos 80)cos 40 x cos 80 x cos 20
=cos220- (cos(60-20) x cos (60+20))cos 40 x cos 80 x cos 20
now using cos(a+b)cos(a-b)=cos2b=sin2a
we get sin260cos 40 x cos 80 x cos 20
now we can easily prove that cos 40 x cos 80 x cos 20 is equal to 18 by using the trick of multiplying sin 20 in the numerator and denominator......
thus we get the given expression sec 40+sec 80+sec 160 equal to 6....