Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Regional Office IX, Zamboanga Peninsula

11 Zest for Progress

Z Peal of artnership

Precalculus
Quarter 2 - Module 7:
Inverse Trigonometric Functions

Name of Learner: ___________________________

Grade & Section: ___________________________
0
Name of School: ___________________________
 What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to
help you master the Inverse Trigonometric Functions. The scope of this
module permits it to be used in many different learning situations. The
language used recognizes the diverse vocabulary level of students. The
lessons are arranged to follow the standard sequence of the course. But the
order in which you read them can be changed to correspond with the
textbook you are now using.

The module is divided into three (3) topics, namely:

1 – The Inverse Sine Function
2 – The Inverse Cosine Function
3 – The Inverse Tangent Function

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. illustrate domain and range of the inverse trigonometric functions;
and
2. evaluate an inverse trigonometric expression.

1
 What’s In

Activity 1: Guess Me!

Let’s Find Out: The exact values of sine and cosine functions for some
angle measures.
Let’s Use These Materials: Notebook, ball pen/pencil and sheet of paper
Let’s Do It This Way:
Write the indicated letter of the exact value into the box that corresponds to
the trigonometric function. Write your answers in a separate sheet of paper.

cos 0

3 3
sin 
4 2
3
 2
cos 2
3 
2

sin(  ) 1 2
2 
1 2
2
2

sin
3
1 3
 
cos( ) 2
4
7 0
sin 1
6
7
cos
4

2
 What’s New
Activity 2:

Let’s Find Out: Revisit Right triangle ratios.

Let’s Use These Materials: Notebook, ball pen/pencil and sheet of paper

Let’s Do It This Way: Recall that trigonometric functions will sometimes be

referred to as trigonometric ratios, since they can be thought as ratios of
lengths of sides of right triangles.

For each given right triangle, determine the corresponding trigonometric

ratios that can be used involving angle  and the given sides. Write your
answers in a separate sheet of paper.

(1) (2)

(3) (4)

3
 What is it
Consider the problems presented in Activity 2, say for example:
In the triangle below, what is the measure of angle  ?

(#2 Activity2)

We know that, relative to angle  are the lengths of the opposite and
hypotenuse sides, so we can write:
opposite 5
sin   
hypotenuse 12
But this doesn't help us find the measure of angle  . We're stuck!
We need new functions that take side ratios and give angles. That is,
we need inverse trigonometric functions!

All the trigonometric functions that we consider are periodic over their
entire domains. This means that all trigonometric functions are not one-to-
one if we consider their whole domains, which implies that they have no
inverses over those sets. But the domains of these functions can be
restricted so that their inverses are functions. The restrictions will give us
well-defined inverse trigonometric functions.

 
If the domain of the sine function is restricted to [  , ] , the sine
2 2
function takes on its full range of values from -1 to 1 and it is one-to-one.
The sine function with the restricted domain is sometimes written as
y  sin x . The inverse of y  sin x is called the inverse sine function, written

as y  sin 1 x or y  arcsin x , and is defined as follows:

Note: Throughout the lesson, we can interchangeably use y  sin 1 x and

y  arcsin x to mean the inverse sine function.

4
 The Inverse Sine Function
 
y  sin 1 x if and only if sin y  x ,where  1  x  1 and  y .
2 2

 
The domain of y  sin 1 x is [-1,1], and its range is [  , ].
2 2
Example 1: Find the exact value of each expression.
1
(a) sin 1 ( ) (b) arcsin(0)
2
1
(c) arcsin(1) (d) sin 1 (  )
2

Solution:
1 1 1
(a) Let   sin ( ) . This is equivalent to sin   . This means that we
2 2
  1
are looking for the number  in the closed interval [  , ] whose sine is .
2 2 2
 1 1 
We get   . Thus, we have sin ( )  .
6 2 6

 
(b) arcsin(0)  0 because sin( 0)  0 and 0  [ 
, ].
2 2
    
(c) arcsin(1)   because sin(  )  1 and   [  , ] .
2 2 2 2 2

1 1 
(d) sin ( )  
2 6

As emphasized in the last example, as long as  1  x  1 , sin 1 x is that

 
number y  [  , ] such that sin y  x . If x  1 , then sin 1 x is not defined in
2 2
R. We can sometimes find the exact value of sin 1 x (that is, we can find a
value in terms of  ), but if no such special value exists, then we leave it in
the form sin 1 x .

5
Example 2: Find the exact value of each expression.
1 
(a) sin(sin 1 ( )) (b) arcsin(sin )
2 3
1
(c) arcsin(sin  ) (d) sin(sin 1 ( ))
2

Solution:
1  1  3 
(a) sin(sin 1 ( ))  sin  (b) arcsin(sin )  arcsin( ) 
2 6 2 3 2 3
1  1
(c) arcsin(sin  )  arcsin(0)  0 (d) sin(sin 1 ( ))  sin(  )  
2 6 2

From the last example, we have the following observations:

1. sin(arcsin x)  x for any x [1,1] ; and
   
2. arcsin(sin  )   if and only if   [
, ] , and if   [ , ] ,
2 2 2 2
 
then arcsin(sin  )   , where   [ , ] such that sin   sin  .
2 2

If the domain of the cosine function y  cos x , is restricted to [0,  ] , the

cosine function takes on its full range of values and is one-to-one. The
cosine function with this restricted domain is written y  cos x and has
inverse cosine function y  cos1 x or y  Arc cos x (“arccosine”), which is
define as follows.

The Inverse Cosine Function

y  cos1 x if and only if cos y  x , where  1  x  1 and 0  y   .

The domain of y  cos1 x is [-1,1], and its range is [0,  ] .

Example 3: Find the exact value of each expression.

3
(a) cos1 (0) (b) arccos( )
2

6
 3 3
(c) cos(cos1 ( )) (d) cos1 cos( )
2 4

Solution:
  
(a) cos1 (0)  because cos  0 and  [0,  ] .
2 2 2

3 5 5 3 5
(b) arccos( ) because cos  and  [0,  ] .
2 6 6 2 6
3 3 3
(c) cos(cos1 ( ))   because  [1,1] .
2 2 2

3 3 3
(d) cos1 cos( )  because  [0,  ].
4 4 4

The inverse tangent function is similarly defined as inverse sine and

inverse cosine functions.

The Inverse Tangent Function

y  tan 1 x or y  arctan x if and only if tan y  x ,

 
where x  R and   y .
2 2

 
The domain of y  tan 1 x is the set of real numbers, and its range is [  , ].
2 2

Example 4: Find the exact value of each expression.

(a) tan 1 (1)
(b) arctan( 3 )
1 5
(c) tan(tan ( ))
2

7
Solution:

(a) tan 1 (1) 
4

(b) arctan( 3 )  
3
5 5
(c) tan(tan 1 ( ))  
2 2

What’s More

Activity 3:
Let’ Find Out: Measure of angle  in a right triangle

Let’s Use These Materials: pencil/ball pen, sheet of paper

Let’s Do It This Way:

Determine the measure of angle in the right triangle by applying the

inverse function of the trigonometric ratios. Write your answers in a
separate sheet of paper.

Triangle Solution
opposite 5
sin   
hypotenuse 12
5
Hence, sin (sin  )  sin (
1 1
)
12
5
  sin 1 ( ) or   24.62 .
12

1.

8
2.

3.

What I Can Do

Directions: Solve the following word problem. Write your answers in a

separate sheet of paper.

1. A student is viewing a painting in a museum.

Standing 6 ft from the painting, the eye level of
the student is 5 ft above the ground. If the
painting is 10 ft tall and its base is 4 ft above
the ground, find the viewing angle subtended
by the painting at the eyes of the student.

Ascano, J. P., Olofernes, A. D., Martin, J. L., &

Tolentino, M. C. (2016). Precalculus Learner's
Material. Pasig City: Department of Education.

9
2. A tower, 38 feet high, must be secured with a guy wire anchored 15 feet
from the base of the tower. What angle will the guy wire make with the
ground?

10
 Assessment

Multiple Choice: Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter
on a separate sheet of paper.

1. Which of the following is the domain of y  sin 1 x ?

(A) [0,  ] (B) [ ,  ]
  
(C) [  , ] (D) [0, ]
2 2 2

2. What is the range of y  tan 1 x ?

(A) [1,1] (B) [ ,  ]
 
(C) [  , ] (D)all real numbers
2 2

2
3. Find the exact value of sin 1 .
2
 
(A) (B)
4 2

(C)  (D)
6

1
4. Which of the following is the exact value of arcsin( ) ?
2
   
(A) (B)  (C) (D) 
6 6 3 3

1 1
5. Find the exact value of cos(cos ( )) .
2

1 2 3
(A)-1 (B)  (C)  (D) 
2 2 2

2
6. Which of the following is the exact value of arccos( )?
2
1 2 3
(A)-1 (B)  (C)  (D) 
2 2 2

11
For items 7-8, refer to the figure below.

7. Which of the following trigonometric

functions can be used to determine the
measure of angle  ?
(A) cot 
(B) tan 
(C) cos
(D) sin 

8. Which of the following is the measure of angle  ?

7
(A) tan 1 ( )
11
1 7
(B) cos ( )
11
11
(C) tan 1 ( )
7
7
(D) sin 1 ( )
11

1 
9. Find the value of tan (sin( )) .
2

(A)
4

(B)
2

(C)
3
(D) 

13
10. Evaluate arcsin(sin ).
4

(A)
2

(B) 
4
13
(C)
4

(D)
3

12
References
Ascano, J. P., Olofernes, A. D., Martin, J. L., & Tolentino, M. C. (2016).
Precalculus Learner's Material. Pasig City: Department of Education.

Hayden, J. C., & Hall, B. C. (1993). Prentice Hall Trigonometry. Jurong,

Singapore: Pearson Education South Asia Pte Limited.

Ryan, M. S., Doubet, M. E., Fabricant, M., & Rockhill, T. D. (1993). Prentice
Hall. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Monotype Composition Company,
Inc.

Sterling, M. (2005). Trigonometry Workbook for Dummies. Indianapolis,

Indiana: Wiley Publishing Inc.

Stewart, J., Redlin, L., & Watson, S. (2012). Precalculus: Mathematics for
Calculus (ebook)Cengage Learning.

Website Link

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/geometry/hs-geo-trig/hs-geo-solve-
for-an-angle/a/inverse-trig-functions-intro

https://www.ck12.org/trigonometry/applications-of-inverse-trigonometric-
functions/lesson/Applications-of-Inverse-Trigonometric-Functions-TRIG/

Development Team
Writer: Joevard C. Geraldez

Editor: Mariaflor P. Dalogdog,

Rozzeille Jyne R. Geraldez,
Priscilla A. Ami

Reviewer: Ismael K. Yusoph

Illustrator: Joevard C. Geraldez

Layout Artist:
Management Team: Dr.Lecita F. Tubal,
Marciano C. Cababat,
Delma B. Cababat,

13