VMO 1964 Problem 1

Given an arbitrary angle $\alpha$ , compute $cos \alpha + cos \big( \alpha +\frac{2\pi }{3 }\big) + cos \big( \alpha +\frac{4\pi }{3 }\big)$ and $sin \alpha + sin \big( \alpha +\frac{2\pi }{3 } \big) + sin \big( \alpha +\frac{4\pi }{3 } \big)$ . Generalize this result and justify your answer.