Inverse Trigonometric Functions

Develop principal arcsine and arccosine, arctangent and compositions.

Lesson 4 of 42 parts Practice Flashcards
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Principal Arcsine and Arccosine

Objective: Explain principal arcsine and arccosine, apply the rule, and justify relevant restrictions.

Sine and cosine are not one-to-one on all real angles. Define arcsin by restricting sine to [−π/2,π/2], and arccos by restricting cosine to [0,π]. Both inverse functions have domain [−1,1]. These principal outputs select one representative angle, while a trigonometric equation can have other solutions outside the restricted range.

Formulas

  • arcsin: range [−π/2,π/2]; arccos: range [0,π]

Worked examples

Try itIf θ=arcsin(7/10), what is sin θ?Show answer

Step 1: The input is between −1 and 1. Step 2: Principal arcsine returns an angle in [−π/2,π/2]. Step 3: Sine reverses this choice, giving 7/10.

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