Inverse Trigonometric Functions

Function Domain Range

h π πi
arcsin x [−1, 1] − ,
2 2

arccos x [−1, 1] [0, π]

 π π
arctan x (−∞, ∞) − ,
2 2

y y y
π π
2 π 2

π
x 2 x
−1 0 1 −10 −5 0 5 10

− π2 x − π2
−1 0 1
Graph of y = arcsin x Graph of y = arccos x Graph of y = arctan x

Composition
sin(arcsin x) = x,
cos(arccos x) = x,
tan(arctan x) = x,
for all x ∈ − π2 , π2
 
for all x ∈ [−1, 1] arcsin(sin x) = x,
for all x ∈ [−1, 1] arccos(cos x) = x, for all x ∈ [0, π]
for all x ∈ − π2 , π2


for all x ∈ (−∞, ∞) arctan(tan x) = x,

Derivative
d 1 d −1 d 1
arcsin x = √ arccos x = √ arctan x =
dx 1 − x2 dx 1 − x2 dx 1 + x2

Notation
arcsin x = sin−1 x arccos x = cos−1 x arctan x = tan−1 x

Note that the −1 in these notations is not an exponent, e.g., sin−1 x 6= 1
sin x .
Gilles Cazelais. Typeset with LATEX on January 10, 2008.