A Visual Proof of the Derivatives of arcsin, arccos, and arctan Using a Cartesian Triangle

Mathematics

Begin by imagining any point (x, y ) in R2 , we can create a right triangle with base x, height y , and hypotenuse x2 + y 2 ; let the angle at the origin :

6     r= x2 + y 2           x -

We start by remembering our basic trigonometric identities: opposite hypotenuse adjacent cos = hypotenuse opposite tan = = adjacent sin = y r x = r y x =

To start with the derivative of arcsin, we must set r = 1, y = u, and so x = 1 u2 .

6     1        1 u2    u

Hence we nd the equation for sin has now become sin = y u = =u r 1

and so we have a denition of arcsin given by arcsin u = . The equation sin = u will be of more immediate use to us, so we now take the derivative of that equation with respect to u using the chain rule, d d sin = u du du d cos =1 du d 1 = du cos However, it is worth noting that we can also develop a formula for cos 2

based on the image as well, cos = and so we can rewrite

d du

x = r

1 u2 = 1

1 u2 ,

as 1 d = . du 1 u2

At this point, I draw your attention back to the fact that = arcsin u and so we have just shown that d 1 arcsin u = du 1 u2 or with the dierential rearranged, d(arcsin u) = du . 1 u2

We can perform a similar operation for arccos which I will illustrate briey with r = 1, x = u, and y = 1 u2 :

6     1        u    1 u2

And so we have our cos given by cos = x u = = u. r 1

Taking the derivative of this equation with respect to u, we have d d cos = u du du d sin =1 du d 1 = du sin As in the previous section, we nd sin = we have d 1 arccos u = du 1 u2 or if the dierential is moved to the other side of the equation, d(arccos u) = du . 1 u2 1 + u2 : 1 u2 and since = arccos u,

For the arctan function we set x = 1, y = u, and r =

6     1+ u2         1   u

By the design of this case, we have tan = and so arctan u = . As you might expect, we now take the derivative of the equation tan = u with respect to u, d d tan = u du du d sec2 u =1 du d = cos2 u = 1 sin2 u du As before, we nd our denition of cos , cos = 1 x = r 1 + u2 y u = = u, x 1

and so we substitute since = arctan u, d arctan u = du 1 1 + u2

2

1 , 1 + u2

or by shifting the dierential to the other side of the equation, d(arctan u) = du . 1 + u2 du 1 u2 d(arctan u) = du 1 + u2

d(arcsin u) =

du 1 u2

d(arccos u) =