Monday, February 27, 2012

4.7 Inverse Trigonometric Functions

We have learned previously that in order for a function to have an inverse that is also a function, it must pass the horizontal line test. In other words, that function must be one-to-one, meaning that each point in the domain of the function must correspond to a unique point in that function's range.

When examining the graph of , or any other trigonometric function, we can see that the function is periodic, and therefore not one-to-one.



The inverse of would appear like so:


This is not a function. However, by constraining the domain of our function to , The graph of becomes becomes one-to-one, and therefore its inverse, shown below, is also a function.


This is known as the inverse sine function, and is denoted by either or .

In the same vein, an inverse cosine function stems from the parent function , but unlike the sine function, the domain of the cosine function is restrained to in order to maintain the function as one-to-one. The result is displayed below.


By constraining the function by the interval , an inverse tangent function may also be defined.


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