Inverse Trigonometric Functions

Function Domain Range

arcsinx [1, 1]

2
,

2

arccos x [1, 1] [0, ]

arctanx (, )

2
,

2

x
y
1 0 1

2
Graph of y = arcsinx
x
y
1 0 1

2
Graph of y = arccos x
x
y
10 5 0 5 10

2
Graph of y = arctanx
Composition
sin(arcsinx) = x, for all x [1, 1] arcsin(sinx) = x, for all x

2
,

2

cos(arccos x) = x, for all x [1, 1] arccos(cos x) = x, for all x [0, ]

tan(arctanx) = x, for all x (, ) arctan(tanx) = x, for all x

2
,

2

Derivative
d
dx
arcsinx =
1

1 x
2
d
dx
arccos x =
1

1 x
2
d
dx
arctanx =
1
1 + x
2
Notation
arcsinx = sin
1
x arccos x = cos
1
x arctanx = tan
1
x

Note that the 1 in these notations is not an exponent, e.g., sin

1
x =
1
sin x
.
Gilles Cazelais. Typeset with LAT
E
X on January 10, 2008.