INVERSE TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS

Pre-Calculus
11-Oxygen | Ma’am Melinda I. Pascual | 1st Semester - Quarter 2

INVERSE TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS

● All the trigonometric functions are periodic over their entire domains.
○ PERIODIC means that these functions are not one-to-one
■ passes the vertical line test
■ fails the horizontal line test
● To make each of the trigonometric functions one-to-one,
1. Their respective domains should be restricted
2. The range should remain the same

INVERSE SINE FUNCTION

● SINE as a whole, does not have an inverse function as it is
not one-to-one
○ Domain: (-∞, ∞)
○ Range: [-1, 1]
● Get the inverse of a function by:
○ Restricting the domain without changing the range
(Figure 1)
○ And reflecting it across y = x

● The result is now called the inverse sine function or arcsine function.
(Figure 2)
○ Denoted by:
■ f-1(x) = sin-1 x
■ f-1(x) = arcsin x
○ Domain: [-1, 1]
π π
○ Range: [− 2 , 2 ]
○ Spans Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 4

INVERSE COSINE FUNCTION

● COSINE as a whole, does not have an inverse function as it is
not one-to-one
○ Domain: (-∞, ∞)
○ Range: [-1, 1]
● Get the inverse of a function by:
○ Restricting the domain without changing the range
(Figure 3)
○ And reflecting it across y = x

● The result is now called the inverse cosine function or arccosine

function. (Figure 4)
○ Denoted by:
■ f-1(x) = cos-1 x
■ f-1(x) = arccos x
○ Domain: [-1, 1]
○ Range: [0, π]
○ Spans Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 2

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INVERSE TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS
Pre-Calculus
11-Oxygen | Ma’am Melinda I. Pascual | 1st Semester - Quarter 2

INVERSE TANGENT FUNCTION

● TANGENT as a whole, does not have an inverse function as it is
not one-to-one
○ Domain: all real numbers except odd multiples
of 90°
○ Range: (-∞, ∞)
● Get the inverse of a function by:
○ Restricting the domain without changing the range
(Figure 5)
○ And reflecting it across y = x

● The result is now called the inverse tangent function or

arctangent function. (Figure 6)
○ Denoted by:
■ f-1(x) = tan-1 x
■ f-1(x) = arctan x
○ Domain: (-∞, ∞)
π π
○ Range: [− 2 , 2 ]
○ Spans Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 4

Steps in Finding the Exact Value of each Inverse Expression

STEP 1: Determine the function used.
● This step is important as each function has a different domain and range span. It also helps you to
know if you have the correct answer!!
○ Sin and Tan: Quadrant 1 and 4
■ Both POSITIVE and NEGATIVE answers
■ If your answer is in the 4th quadrant, change it into its negative form !!!
3
● Example: arcsin (− 2
)
5π
○ We will first think that the answer is 3
, but this answer is not in the
span of arcsin’s range.
π
○ So, you need to get its negative form which is − 3
○ Cos: Quadrant 1 and 2
■ only POSITIVE answers

STEP 2: Locate the given value in the unit circle.

● In inverse trigonometric functions, the given beside the function is the valid ‘sin/cos/tan’ value.
○ So to find the answer, use your unit circle to get the corresponding angle!

Illustrative Examples

π 1 2π
1. sin-1 (-1) = − 2
4. arccos (− 2
)= 3
π
2. arcsin (
2 π
)= 4 5. tan-1 (− 3) = 3
2
π π
3. cos-1 (0) = 2 6. arctan (1) = 4