Northampton Community College

Calculus II
Individual Project

You must show all work and answer all questions. Your work must be legible and neatly
presented on a separate sheet of paper. You must also label each exploration.

Exploration 1: The Inverse Secant Function.

In the definition that is presented in the textbook,
π
y = arc sec(x) iff sec( y ) = x with domain x ≥ 1 and range 0 ≤ y ≤ π , y ≠ , the
2
inverse secant function is defined by restricting the domain of the secant function
 π  π 
to the intervals 0,  ∪  , π  . Most other texts and reference books agree with
 2 2 
this, but some disagree. What other domains might make sense? Explain your
reasoning graphically. Most calculators do not have a inverse secant function.
How can you use a calculator to evaluate the inverse secant function? Explain.

Exploration 2:
Graph y = arccos(cos( x)) for − 4π ≤ x ≤ 4π . Why isn’t the graph the same as the
graph of y = x ?