Section 5.

5 Inverse Trigonometric Functions and Their

Graphs
DEFINITION: The inverse sine function, denoted by sin1 x (or arcsin x), is defined to be
the inverse of the restricted sine function

sin x, x
2
2

DEFINITION: The inverse cosine function, denoted by cos1 x (or arccos x), is defined to
be the inverse of the restricted cosine function
cos x, 0 x

DEFINITION: The inverse tangent function, denoted by tan1 x (or arctan x), is defined
to be the inverse of the restricted tangent function

tan x, < x <

2
2

DEFINITION: The inverse cotangent function, denoted by cot1 x (or arccot x), is defined
to be the inverse of the restricted cotangent function
cot x, 0 < x <

DEFINITION: The inverse secant function, denoted by sec1 x (or arcsec x), is defined to
be the inverse of the restricted secant function
[
]
sec x, x [0, /2) [, 3/2) or x [0, /2) (/2, ] in some other textbooks

DEFINITION: The inverse cosecant function, denoted by csc1 x (or arccsc x), is defined
to be the inverse of the restricted cosecant function
[
]
csc x, x (0, /2] (, 3/2] or x [/2, 0) (0, /2] in some other textbooks

IMPORTANT: Do not confuse

sin1 x,
with

cos1 x,

1
,
sin x

1
,
cos x

tan1 x,

cot1 x,

1
,
tan x

1
,
cot x

FUNCTION
DOMAIN
1
sin x
[1, 1]
1
cos x
[1, 1]
tan1 x
(, +)
cot1 x
(, +)
1
sec x
(, 1] [1, +)
csc1 x
(, 1] [1, +)

sec1 x,
1
,
sec x

csc1 x

1
csc x

RANGE
[/2, /2]
[0, ]
(/2, /2)
(0, )
[0, /2) [, 3/2)
(0, /2] (, 3/2]

FUNCTION
sin1 x
cos1 x
tan1 x
cot1 x
sec1 x
csc1 x

DOMAIN
RANGE
[1, 1]
[/2, /2]
[1, 1]
[0, ]
(, +)
(/2, /2)
(, +)
(0, )
(, 1] [1, +) [0, /2) [, 3/2)
(, 1] [1, +) (0, /2] (, 3/2]

EXAMPLES:
1

(a) sin

[ ]
1 = , since sin = 1 and , .
2
2
2
2 2

( )

[ ]
(b) sin1 (1) = , since sin
= 1 and , .
2
2
2
2 2
[ ]
(c) sin1 0 = 0, since sin 0 = 0 and 0 , .
2 2
(d) sin1

1
[ ]
= , since sin = and , .
2
6
6
2
6
2 2

3
3

[ ]
= , since sin =
and , .
2
3
3
2
3
2 2

(e) sin

2
2

[ ]
= , since sin =
and , .
2
4
4
2
4
2 2

(f) sin

EXAMPLES:
1

cos

0= ,
2

tan1 1 =

,
4

cos

1 = 0,

cos (1) = ,

tan1 (1) = ,
4

tan1

cos

3=

,
3

tan1

EXAMPLES: Find sec1 1, sec1 (1), and sec1 (2).

3
2

1
cos
= , cos
=
2
6
2
4
(
)
1

= , tan1
=
6
6
3
3

= ,
2
3

FUNCTION
sin1 x
cos1 x
tan1 x
cot1 x
sec1 x
csc1 x

DOMAIN
RANGE
[1, 1]
[/2, /2]
[1, 1]
[0, ]
(, +)
(/2, /2)
(, +)
(0, )
(, 1] [1, +) [0, /2) [, 3/2)
(, 1] [1, +) (0, /2] (, 3/2]

EXAMPLES: Find sec1 1, sec1 (1), and sec1 (2).

Solution: We have
sec1 1 = 0,

sec1 (1) = ,

sec1 (2) =

since
sec = 1,

sec 0 = 1,
and
0, ,
Note that sec

4
= 2
3

4 [ ) [ 3 )
0,
,
3
2
2

2
is also 2, but
3
sec1 (2) 6=

since

sec

4
3

2
3

2 [ ) [ 3 )
6 0,
,
3
2
2

EXAMPLES: Find
tan1 0

cot1 0

cot1 1

sec1

csc1 2

2
csc1
3

FUNCTION
sin1 x
cos1 x
tan1 x
cot1 x
sec1 x
csc1 x

DOMAIN
RANGE
[1, 1]
[/2, /2]
[1, 1]
[0, ]
(, +)
(/2, /2)
(, +)
(0, )
(, 1] [1, +) [0, /2) [, 3/2)
(, 1] [1, +) (0, /2] (, 3/2]

EXAMPLES: We have
tan1 0 = 0,

cot1 0 =

,
2

cot1 1 =

,
4

sec1

2=

,
4

csc1 2 =

,
6

csc1 =
3
3

EXAMPLES: Evaluate
(
)
(
( )
)
7
(a) sin arcsin
, arcsin sin
, and arcsin sin
.
6
6
6
(
)
(
( )
)
8
(b) sin arcsin
, arcsin sin
, and arcsin sin
.
7
7
7
(
( ))
(
)
(
)
2
2
9
(c) cos arccos
, arccos cos
, and arccos cos
.
5
5
5
Solution: Since arcsin x is the inverse of the restricted sine function, we have
sin(arcsin x) = x if x [1, 1]

arcsin(sin x) = x if x [/2, /2]

and

Therefore
(
( )
)
(a) sin arcsin
= arcsin sin
= , but
6
6
6
(
)
( )
7
1

arcsin sin
= arcsin
=
6
2
6
or
)
(
(
( )
( (
)

))
7
= arcsin sin
= arcsin sin
=
= arcsin sin +
arcsin sin
6
6
6
6
6
(
( )
)
(b) sin arcsin
= arcsin sin
= , but
7
7
7
)
(
( (
))
(
( )
)

8
= arcsin sin
+
= arcsin sin
= arcsin sin
=
arcsin sin
7
7
7
7
7
(c) Similarly, since arccos x is the inverse of the restricted cosine function, we have
cos(arccos x) = x if x [1, 1]
and
arccos(cos x) = x if x [0, ]
(
( ))
(
)
2
2
2
2
Therefore cos arccos
, but
= and arccos cos
=
5
5
5
5
(
)
(
( (
)
9
))
= arccos cos
=
arccos cos
= arccos cos 2
5
5
5
5
5