Concept: Arcsine & Arccosine

Pre-requisite Understandings:

Students need to have prior understanding of the sine and cosine functions.
o What do they represent:
Sine function represents the vertical distance above the horizontal
diameter measured in radius lengths in terms of the angle measure swept
counterclockwise from the 3 oclock position.
Cosine function represents the horizontal distance to the right of the
vertical diameter in radius lengths in terms of the angle measure swept
counterclockwise from the 3 oclock position.
Prior knowledge of domains and ranges for both sine function and cosine
function
Sine function domain (-oo,oo), range is [-1,1].
Cosine function domain is (-oo,oo), range is [-1,1].
For both sine and cosine, you can make an infinite number of
revolutions on a circle, but the output can only range 1 radius
length from the origin to the right of the vertical diameter or above
the horizontal diameter. Which is why input is any angle measure
in radians, but range cannot be outside the interval of [-1,1].
Students also need to have prior understanding of inverse functions
o Inverse functions take the original output of a function now as the input and will
output the input of the original function
Students need to be familiar with notation
o Understand f(x) represents the value of the function f when input is x, so sin-1(x)
is representing the inverse of sine function which is also arcsin(x). Same occurs
for cosine function.

Learning Goals:

Students will need to understand by the end of the lesson what arcsine and arcsine
represent
o The output of the sine function represents vertical distance above horizontal
diameter in radius lengths by taking as its input an angle measure swept
counterclockwise from the 3 oclock position in radians, but the output of arcsine
represents the angle measure swept counterclockwise from the 3 oclock position
in radians by inputting vertical distance above the horizontal diameter in radius
lengths
o Cosine outputs the horizontal distance to the right of the vertical diameter in
radius lengths by taking as its input an angle measure swept counterclockwise
from the 3 oclock position in radians, but arccosine outputs the angle measure
swept counterclockwise from the 3 oclock position in radians by inputting
horizontal distance to the right of the vertical diameter

Students will understand that arcsine and arccosine are restricted set of angle measures
because they inverse functions of sine and cosine who have restricted domains and

[
, ]
ranges. Arcsine domain is [-1,1] and range is
2 2 . Arccosine domain is [-1,1]
and range is [0, ] .

Connections:

Need to build the connection that sine and cosine are simply functions with fancy names,
so when we refer to their inverses, they behavior similarly to inverse functions like we
did earlier in the year. Things are more complicated with inverse trig functions because
in order to maintain one to one criteria the domain must be restricted for inverse
functions of sine and cosine

Phases and Steps in the Lesson Logic:

1. Students should already have a clear understanding of sine and cosine function, what they
represent in a written notation and also what aspects on a graph. For the first activity I would just
have students review a question that involves sine and cosine to have students refresh their minds
about these two functions. Good idea to begin with review.
2. Students should also have prior knowledge of inverse functions. Inverse functions take the
original output of a function now as the input and will output the input of the original function,
so we would discuss how this applies to the inverse functions of sine and cosine. Which would
lead students to realize the output of the sine function represents vertical distance above
horizontal diameter in radius lengths by taking as its input an angle measure swept
counterclockwise from the 3 oclock position in radians, but the output of arcsine represents the
angle measure swept counterclockwise from the 3 oclock position in radians by inputting
vertical distance above the horizontal diameter in radius lengths.
Similarly, the output of cosine function represents the horizontal distance to the right of the
vertical diameter in radius lengths by taking as its input an angle measure swept
counterclockwise from the 3 oclock position in radians, but the output of arccosine represents
the angle measure swept counterclockwise from the 3 oclock position in radians by inputting
horizontal distance to the right of the vertical diameter in radius lengths.
3. Taking into account how inverse functions would be applied to sine and cosine, then it would
be important to address how this functions would look graphically. How are the domains
affected, what about range? Are the inverse functions one-to-one? And if not would restricting
the domain help.
I would simply want students to realize arcsine and arccosine are inverse functions of sine and
cosine with a restrictive domain of sine and cosine. They function similarly to functions they
have previously worked with but now hold this restrictive domain.

Review
Example 1:
1. What is represented by sin(n) for the given graph?
sin(n) represents an output of the vertical distance
above the horizontal diameter, when n is the angle
measure swept out from the 3 oclock positon in
radians, if n is approximately 3.5 radians, then sin(3.5)
would have a vertical distance above the horizontal
diameter of -0.5.
2. What is represented by cos(n) for the same graph
representation?
cos(n) represents an output of the horizontal distance to
the right of the vertical diameter when n is the angle
measure swept out from the 3 oclock position in
radians. If n is approximately 3.5 radians, then cos(3.5) would output the horizontal distance to
the right of the vertical diameter which would be approximately -0.85.
For 1 & 2, if students are familiar with sine and cosine functions, they should have realized the
given graph representation is in terms of a radius of length 2, so sin(n) is half of 2sin(n), the
same occurs for cos(n).

3. What is the domain and range of sin(n)? domain of sin(n) is (-oo,oo), range is [-1,1]
4. What is the domain and range of cos(n)? domain of cos(n) is (-oo,oo), range is [-1,1]
For a given function, its domain is described by the inputs and the range is described by outputs.
For both since and cosine, the input is an angle measure swept out form the 3 oclock position in
radians, and this angle can be infinite because you can revolve an infinite amount of time around
the circle clockwise or counterclockwise, which is why the domain is (-oo,oo) for both sine and
cosine functions.
The range for both sine and cosine functions are restricted to being no less than -1, and nothing
greater than 1. This occurs because outputs of sine and cosine are distances measured in radius
lengths, so such distances cannot be greater than 1 radius length.

Investigation

A race-car starts at the 3 oclock position and drives counterclockwise on a circular track, with a
radius of 2.4 miles.

1. If the car traveled a distance of 9.6 miles around the track from the 3 oclock position, what
angle measured in radians has been swept out by the car?
From the context of the problem, if the car is 2.4 miles from the center of the track and the car
travels a distance of 9.6 miles around the circular track, then it is clear it traveled a distance
equivalent to 4 times as large as the radius length.
But how does this help with measure of angel that has been swept out? An arc length of one
radius length is subtended by an angle whose openness is measured at one radian. Therefore if
the car traveled an arc length of 2 radius lengths, then the angle would correspond with an open
ness of 2 radians. In this problem the car traveled an arc length of 9.6 miles, equivalent to 4 times
as large as 1 radius length, which corresponds with an angle openness measure of 4 radians.
2. What angle measure in radians, is swept out if the race-car has traveled 11.7 miles?
Similarly from problem one, we are measuring a distance of 11.7 miles with a ruler of measure
2.4 miles. As explained that an arc length of one radius length is subtended by an angle whose
openness is measured at one radian, then in the problem we are measuring the arc length by the
radius length to find corresponding angle measure in radians.
11.72.4= 4.875 radians
3. How would angle measure change if the race-car traveled the same distance but had a radius
of length 3.6 miles? If so how so?
Yes, because you are basically measuring the same distance with a ruler that is larger this time,
so you can expect the angle measure to be smaller from the previous example.
11.73.6= 3.25 radians

4. If the car has gone around the track more than once, what is the smallest angle measure (in
radians), which would keep the situation true?

Students should know that a circle consists of 2

radians, which is equivalent to one

revolution. So if the car has gone around the track more than once, then the angle measure would
have to be greater than 2 radians to remain true.

Example 2:
Compute the measure of the angle between 0 and 360 degrees swept counterclockwise from the
3 oclock position on the unit circle whose terminal ray intersect the circle at the point with given
y-coordinate in the given quadrant.

a. y=0.2 in Quadrant I.

degrees

=
No diagram is given, but students should have drawn a diagram to
help them find . Understanding the function of sine, lets us know
sin ( )=0.2 , if we use arcsine function it will take as an input the
vertical distance of 0.2 and output the angle measure swept out from the 3 oclock position in
radians.

arcsin(0.2) = 0.2013579
What does this mean? Is this was we are looking for?
0.2013579 represents the angle in radians, which corresponds to a vertical distance above
horizontal diameter of 0.2, so we need to convert this to degrees. Which we can do so by
360
multiplying by a proportion of 2 , because there are 360 degrees in a circle, and a total of 2

radians in one revolution of the circle. Which leads us to with the angle measure in degrees

equal to arcsin(0.2)*

360
2 .

b. y=-0.7 in Quadrant III.

degrees

=
Similarly, it is best to draw a diagram to help visualize where
the terminal ray would be and help visualize the size of the
subtended arc length.
Again, the sine function would input the angle measure swept out from the 3 oclock position
counterclockwise and would output the vertical distance above the horizontal diameter. It is
important to know that we are using the sine function because the problem is saying there is a
horizontal line at y=-0.7 which intersects the circle in the stated Quadrant and this point
describes the terminal ray.
sin ( )=0.7 , so arcsine would be the inverse and output theta which is what we are looking
for arcsin(-0.7)= -0.775397 radians
But does this answer seem logical? An angle measure of -0.775 radians would mean you would
move in the clockwise direction for a bit less than one radian, which would mean the terminal
ray would be located in the 4th quadrant, but the diagram we drew indicates it should be in the 3rd
quadrant. Looking at the diagram that was created, you can visually see the line y=-0.7 intersects
the circle in 2 different points, but the calculator calculates the angle in radians for the yellow
angle sept out from the 3 oclock position clockwise, which is why it is negative and less than 1
radian.
We are looking for the same angle reflected along the vertical diameter, so an angle that sweeps
out counterclockwise from the 3 oclock position and is located in 3rd quadrant. Both angles are
similar if they had different reference points, one being the 3 oclock position and other 9 oclock
position, so if we started at the 9 oclock position and moved in a clockwise direction our angle
would be the same, -0.775397 radians, but because trig functions use angles that begin at the
standard 3 oclock position and move in a counterclockwise direction, so we have to add
radians to be at the 9 oclock position and then add the additional angle 0.775397 radians,
making sure it is positive because we are sweeping out in a counterclockwise direction, vs how
-0.775397 radians represented by the angle swept out clockwise direction from the 3 oclock
position.
Therefore our angle that would output a vertical distance above the horizontal diameter of -0.7
into the sine function and be in the 3rd quadrant would be + (-arcsin(-0.7))=3.916990
radians, approximately 224.4.
Example 3:

Going back and now analyzing the review problem, but

now in terms of inverse functions of sine and cosine.
1. Given the same diagram from review, what is
arcsin(-0.5)?
arcsin(-0.5)= -0.523 radians, but is not the angle
measure we want because the calculator takes the most
restrictive domain of the sine function and keeps a
restrictive domain for inverse sine, and -0.523 radians
is in the 4th quadrant while we are looking for the
approximate angle measure in radians that sweeps
counterclockwise from the 3 oclock position and is in
the 3rd quadrant like depicted in the diagram, the
appropriate angle measure in radians for n.
2. What quantities are represented by the inputs and outputs of arcsin(-0.5)? The output of
arcsin(-0.5) represents the angle measure in radians swept out from the 3 oclock position
counterclockwise that would take as an input a vertical distance above the horizontal diameter of
-0.5 radius lengths.
3. Given the same diagram what is arccos(-0.85)?
arccos(-0.85)=3.5 radians, but also an angle measure of approximately 2.7 radians would output
the same horizontal distance of -0.85 in cosine function.
4. What quantities are represented by the inputs and outputs? The inverse function has an input
quantity of the horizontal distance to the right of the vertical diameter, in this case it is -0.85. The
output of arccos(-0.85) represents the measure of an angle swept out from the 3 oclock position
in counterclockwise direction, approximately both angles of 2.7 radians and 3.5 radians would
correspond to the same horizontal distance. But if you wanted the angle measure that represents
n in the diagram, 3.5 radians is correct.

Example 4:
Evaluate the following questions using a radian ruler and give the measure of the angles in
radians.
1

1
1. sin ( 2 )

1 1
cos ( )
2.
2

= 6
=

Evaluate the following questions, and give the measure of the angles in degrees.


3. arccos ( 2 )
3

4. arccos ( 1)

30, also 330

0, also 360

1 2
5. sin ( 2 ) 225, also 315

Here I would want students to use what they know about sine and cosine function and now
evaluate these questions asking themselves the reverse, what degree would give me the radian
length of 1 on the horizontal axis (arccos(1)) and lead students to realize it would be an angle
degree of 0. They become practice for students to be comfortable with inverse of sine and cosine
functions.

Formative Assessment 1:
Imagine there is a bug sitting on the end of a fan blade, and the fan revolves counterclockwise.
The bug is exactly 2.2 feet from the center of the fan and is at the 3 oclock position as the blade
begins to turn.

1. If the bug traveled a distance of 4.4 feet around the circle from the 3 oclock position, what
angle (measured in radians) has been swept out by the bug?
From the context of the problem, if the bug is 2.2 feet from the center of the fan and the bug
travels a distance of 4.4 feet around the circle formed from the fan, then it is clear it traveled a
distance equivalent to twice the radius length.
But how does this help with measure of angel that has been swept out? An arc length of one
radius length is subtended by an angle whose openness is measured at one radian. Therefore if
the bug traveled an arc length of 2 radius lengths, then the angle would correspond with an open
ness of 2 radians.

2. Suppose the bug travels 1.8 radians per second as the bug rotates on the fan. How many
radians does the bug sweep out in t seconds as the bug rotates on the fan?
Again because the arc length of one radius length is subtended by an angle whose openness is
measure at one radian, then if the bug travels 1.8 radians in one second, then the bug would
sweep out 1.8 radians for every t seconds that elapsed.
3. What do the inputs and outputs of the sine function conceptually represent? What do the inputs
and outputs of the arcsine function conceptually represent?
The output value of the sine function represents vertical distance above horizontal diameter in
radius lengths by taking as its input an angle measure swept counterclockwise from the 3 oclock
position in radians. The output of arcsine represents the angle measure swept counterclockwise
from the 3 oclock position in radians by inputting vertical distance above the horizontal
diameter in radius lengths.

4. What do the inputs and outputs of the cosine function conceptually represent? What do the
inputs and outputs of the arccosine function conceptually represent?
Cosine outputs the horizontal distance to the right of the vertical diameter in radius lengths by
taking as its input an angle measure swept counterclockwise from the 3 oclock position in
radians. The inverse function of cosine, arccosine, outputs the angle measure swept
counterclockwise from the 3 oclock position in radians by inputting horizontal distance to the
right of the vertical diameter.
The first formative assessment would be included after the first example in the investigation.
This assessment is very short and requires almost no calculations, it targets students to think
about why arcsine and arccosine are used and what they represent.

Formative Assessment 2:
Use the figure below to find the values.

1. What is the value of , (the measure of the angle depicted, in degrees)?

Because we are finding the value of an angle measure it makes sense that we can use the inverse
functions of sine or cosine. If we decide to use arccosine, then as an input we are using the
horizontal distance to the right of the vertical diameter formed from the angle , so we would
be using 4.830km, but arccosine can only have input values that are no more than one radius
length to the right of the vertical diameter, so [-1,1]. In order to meet this requirement then we
4.830
arccos (
)
have to take what we are measuring and divide it by the radius, so
would have
5
an output of the angle measure in radians that corresponds to the horizontal distance created by
the angle . Arccosine only outputs a measure of an angle swept out counterclockwise from
the 3 oclock position in radians, so

arccos (

4.830
)
would be the angle in radians, the
5

question asks for degrees which would occur by conversion of

360
2

because we want to

measure degrees with radians and there are 360 degrees in a circle vs 2

radians. Final

4.830
360
5
answer would be arccos
, approximately 15.
2

2. What is the value of , (the measure of the angle depicted, in degrees)?

It is important to note that has a different reference point and does not start at the 3 oclock
position. For this situation we are given the arc length of , which is 24.871km, but what does
this mean in terms of the arc length of the entire circle, in other words the circumference. So we
are measuring the arc length of , with a ruler the size of the circumference which we can

find because we know the radius length is 5km,

24.871
=0.7916685
, which means the
2 5

relative size of the arc length compared to the entire circumference of the circle is about 0.79.
And if we want to know the degrees, then we multiply by 360 because there are 360 in any
24.871
360=

given circle, therefore the answer of the value of

is
285.
2 5
3. If you were given that x has an approximate value of 2.5km, then what is the measure of the
corresponding angle in degrees?
The value of x corresponds to a horizontal distance to the right of the vertical diameter, so if we
are looking for the measure of such angle, then we would have to use arccosine. But arccosine
only has input values of [-1,1] because the horizontal distance cannot exceed one radius length,
so we will take the relative size of the horizontal distance, 2.5km, compared to the radius of the
2.5
arccos
=1.0472
circle, 5km, therefore
radians which when converted to degrees is
5

( )

approximately 60. Our calculations found the angle measure that would output a horizontal
distance of 0.5, but because arccosines range is restricted to [0, ] , the degree of angle
calculated was found in the first quadrant, to find the degree of angle we want, we can move
clockwise 60 from the 3 oclock position which would mean -60, counterclockwise travel
300. These answers make sense because in reality the values of x, y are created by adding the
angle measure of + , which we found in parts 1 & 2, 15 + 285=300.

Rubric for Formative Assessment 2:

Ways of Thinking:
1pt: Student understands arccosine/arcsine have inputs of distances no greater than one radius
length, so they need to take the relative size of their chosen distance compared to the radius
length.
1pt: Student understands theta has a different reference point from 3 oclock position. Problem
only gives arc length, and relative size is needed comparing the arc length to the circumference.
1pt: Student understands the value of x corresponds to an angle measure of + .
Correctness:
1pt: =

4.830
360
(
5 )
arccos
2

, or

1.294
360
(
5 )
arcsin
2

, approximately 15.

1pt: =

24.871
360=
285
2 5

( 2.55 )

( 2.55 )

360
360
1pt: + =285 +15 =300 , or 2 arccos
, or arccos
2
2

Summative Assessment:
1. A circle has a radius of 8 meters centered at the origin. Determine the measure of the angle (in
radians) swept out counterclockwise form the 3 oclock position and the indicated point.

a. (-0.801, 0.598) radii

radians

=
The point (-0.801, 0.598) in radii is located in the second quadrant. Which if students understand
the domain & range of the inverse function of sine, and decide to use arcsin(0.598) they should
understand the calculator will output an angle measure in radians that has a vertical distance of
0.598 but is in the 1st quadrant, arcsin ( 0.598 ) would find the angle needed, and its output
is radians so no necessary steps are needed.

The question targets if students can correctly coordinate inputs and outputs and if they
understand domain and range of arcsine and arccosine functions, because simply using these
functions might not output the angle measure intended.
b. (-7.492, -2.806) meters

radians

=
The point (-7.492, -2.806) in meters would be located in the fourth quadrant, but because the
coordinate is in terms of meters, students need to understand arcsine/arccosine only have inputs
of the relative size of a distance compared to the radius. Using the vertical distance of -2.806
would output a negative angle measure in the 4th quadrant, to find angle needed

arcsin (

2.806
) would find our angle measure needed in radians. Because
8

arcsin (

2.806
)
is a negative angle measure from the 3 oclock position, if we subtract from
8

radians, then (anglemeasureradians)

both will be combined and output angle

measure needed. Similar approach is used for arccosine, resulting with

7.492
=2 arccos (
)
.
8
Both questions really target students thinking in checking if they understand domain and range of
arcsine and arccosine functions. If they have a really good grasp about the restrictive domains
and ranges of both inverse functions, they will be able to understand why for arccosine the angle
measure needs to be subtracted from 2 radians, and for arcsine needs to be subtracted from
.
2. Compute the measure of the angle between 0 and 360 degrees swept counterclockwise from 3
o'clock position on the unit circle whose terminal ray intersects the circle at the point with
given y-coordinate and in the given quadrant.
a. y=0.9 in Quadrant II.
=______________ degreees

sin
(1 ( 0.9 ))360
2

=115.84

b. y=-0.1 in Quadrant IV.

=______________ degreees
360

(arcsin (0.1) )360

2

=354.26

Students should realize that depending on what quadrant the situation is asking for they would
possibly need to take that information into account. It is similar to question one, and if students
understand arcsine they would solve the problems correctly. The last step would require a
conversion of radians to degrees.
3. Without using a calculator, evaluate the following expressions.
a.

b.

arcsine(sin

( 9 ))

arcsine(sin

( 87 ))

= 9

sin ( )
Students need to use their memory of the unit circle. For a,
would output a very small
9
vertical distance above the horizontal diameter, but taking this as an input into the arcsine

function would bring up back to 9 radians.

4. Without using a calculator, evaluate the following expressions and give angle measures in
degrees (do not exceed one revolution for your answers).
a.

cos1 ( 0)

90, 270

b.

sin 1 (0)

0, 180

Students should be able to use their memory of a unit circle to solve the expressions. Simply
drawing a circle would help visualize where cosine has a horizontal distance of 0, would be
located at both 90 & 270. Similarly for arcsin(0), sine function has an output of a vertical
distance of 0 at both 0 & 180.

5. Using a unit circle, evaluate the following expressions and give angle measures in radians (do
not exceed one revolution for your answers).
a.

b.

c.

arccos (

1
)
2

cos ( sin1

( 12 ))

arccos ( sin

( 3 ))

2
3

3
2

Students should take what they know about sine function and cosine function and apply it to the
inverse functions of sine and cosine where they are taking a distance in radius lengths for either
vertical or horizontal, and finding the angle measure in either degrees or radians that would
correspond to that distance. Different angle measures can map to the same distances, so although
it is not stated that a restrictive domain should be used, it is preferred but answers that are
accurate are still accepted.
6. What do the inputs and outputs of the arcsine function represent?
The output of arcsine represents the angle measure swept counterclockwise from the 3 oclock
position in radians by inputting vertical distance above the horizontal diameter in radius lengths.
Lastly I would want to target and ask students to answer what is being represented by the inputs
and outputs of either the arcsine or arccosine function. Although I would only ask about one
inverse function, if they were correct about the inputs and outputs of the asked function it would
be assumed they would be able to answer the representation of the inputs and outputs of the other
inverse function.