Revision Notes
Class - 12 Maths
Chapter 2 - Inverse Trigonometric Functions
Domain and range of all inverse trigonometric functions
Function Domain Range
1. y = sin −1 x if x = sin y −1 x 1
− 2 , 2
2. y = cos −1 x if x = cos y −1 x 1 [0, ]
3. y = tan −1 x if x = tan y − x
− ,
2 2
4. y = cot −1 x if x = cot y − x (0, )
5. y = cosec−1x if x = cosecy (−, −1] [1, )
− 2 ,0 0, 2
6. y = sec −1 x if x = sec y (−, −1] [1, )
0, 2 2 ,
• We must note that inverse trigonometric functions cannot be expressed in
terms of trigonometric functions as their reciprocals. For example,
1
sin −1 x .
sin x
• The principal value of a trigonometric function is that value which lies
in the range of principal branch.
• The functions sin −1 x & tan −1 x are increasing functions in their domain.
• The functions cos −1 x & cot −1 x are decreasing functions in over domain.
Graphs of inverse trigonometric functions
a) Graph of sin −1 x is shown below,
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b) Graph of cos−1 x is shown below,
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c) Graph of tan −1 x is shown below,
d) Graph of cosec−1x is shown below,
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e) Graph of sec−1 x is shown below,
f) Graph of cot −1 x is shown below,
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Properties of inverse trigonometric functions
1. Property I
1
a) sin −1 = cosec−1x , for all x ( −,1 1, )
x
Let us prove this by considering cosec−1x = ……(i)
Taking cosec on both sides,
x = cosec
Using reciprocal identity,
1
= sin
x
x ( −, −1 1, ) 1x −1,10
cosec−1x = − , − 0
2 2
1
= sin −1 ……(ii)
x
From (i) and (ii), we get
1
sin −1 = cosec−1x
x
Hence proved.
1
b) cos −1 = sec−1 x , for all x ( −,1 1, )
x
Let us prove this by taking sec −1 x = ……(i)
Taking sec on both sides,
x = sec
Using reciprocal identity,
1
= cos
x
1
= cos −1 ……(ii)
x
Then, x ( −,1 1, ) and 0, −
2
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x = ( −, −1 1, )
1
−1,1 − 0 and 0,
x
From (i) and (ii), we get
1
cos −1 = sec−1 ( x )
x
Hence proved.
1 cot x, for x 0
−1
−1
c) tan =
x − + cot −1 x, for x 0
Let us prove this by taking cot −1 x = . Then x R, x 0 and 0,
……(i)
Now there are two cases that arise:
Case I: When x 0
In this case, we have 0,
2
Considering cot −1 x =
Taking cot on both sides,
x = cot
Using reciprocal property,
1
= tan
x
1
= tan −1 ……(ii)
x
From (i) and (ii), we get 0,
2
1
tan −1 = cot −1 x , for all x 0
x
Case II: When x 0
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In this case, we have , x = cot 0
2
Now,
2
− −0
2
− − ,0
2
cot −1 x =
Taking cot on both sides,
x = cot
Using reciprocal property,
1
= tan
x
1
= − tan ( − )
x
= tan ( − ) tan ( − ) = − tan
1
x
1
− = tan −1 − − ,0
x 2
1
tan −1 = − + ……(iii)
x
From (i) and (iii), we get
1
tan −1 = − + cot −1 x , if x 0
x
1 cot x, for x 0
−1
−1
Hence it is proved that tan =
x − + cot −1 x, for x 0
2. Property II
a) sin −1 ( − x ) = − sin −1 ( x ) , for all x −1,1
b) tan −1 ( − x ) = − tan −1 x , for all x R
c) cosec −1 ( − x ) = − cosec −1x , for all x ( −, −1 1, )
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Clearly, − x −1,1 for all x −1,1
Let us prove a) by taking sin −1 ( − x ) =
Then, taking sin on both sides, we get
−x = sin ……(i)
x = − sin
x = sin ( − )
− = sin −1 x
x −1,1 and − − , for all − ,
2 2 2 2
= − sin −1 x ……(ii)
From (i) and (ii), we get
sin −1 ( − x ) = − sin −1 ( x )
Hence proved.
The b) and c) properties can also be proved in the similar manner.
3. Property III
a) cos −1 ( − x ) = − cos −1 ( x ) , for all x −1,1
b) sec −1 ( − x ) = − sec −1 x , for all x ( −, −1 1, )
c) cot −1 ( − x ) = − cot −1 x , for all x R
Clearly, − x −1,1 for all x −1,1
Let us prove it by taking cos −1 ( − x ) = ……(i)
Then, taking cos on both sides, we get
−x = cos
x = − cos
x = cos ( − )
x −1,1 and − 0, for all 0,
cos −1 x = −
= − cos−1 x ……(ii)
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From (i) and (ii), we get
cos −1 ( − x ) = − cos −1 ( x )
Hence Proved.
The b) and c) properties can also be proved in the similar manner.
4. Property IV
a) sin −1 x + cos −1 x =, for all x −1,1
2
Let us prove it by taking sin −1 x = ……(i)
Then, − , x −1,1
2 2
−
2 2
− −
2 2
0 −
2
− 0,
2
Now we consider sin −1 x =
Taking sin on both sides, we get
x = sin
Changing functions, we get
x = cos −
2
cos −1 x = −
2
x −1,1 and − 0,
2
+ cos −1 x = ……(ii)
2
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From (i) and (ii), we get
sin −1 x + cos −1 x =
2
Hence proved.
b) tan −1 x + cot −1 x =, for all x R
2
Let us prove it by taking tan −1 x = ……(i)
Then, − , x R
2 2
−
2 2
− −
2 2
0 −
2
− ( 0, )
2
Now consider tan −1 x =
Taking tan on both sides, we get
x = tan
x = cot −
2
cot −1 x = − − ( 0, )
2 2
+ cot −1 x = ……(ii)
2
From (i) and (ii), we get
tan −1 x + cot −1 x =
2
c) sec−1 x + cosec−1x = , for all x ( −, −1 1, )
2
Let us prove it by taking sec −1 x = ……(i)
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Then, 0, − x ( −, −1 1, )
2
0 ,
2
− − 0,
2
− − , − 0
2 2 2 2
− − , , − 0
2 2 2 2
Now considering sec −1 x =
Taking sec on both sides, we get
x = sec
x = cosec −
2
cosec−1x = −
2
− − , , − 0
2 2 2 2
+ cosec−1x = ….…(ii)
2
From (i) and (ii), we get
sec−1 x + cosec−1x =
2
5. Property V
x+y
a) tan −1 x + tan −1 y = tan −1 , xy 1
1 − xy
x−y
b) tan −1 x − tan −1 y = tan −1 , xy −1
1 + xy
x+y
c) tan −1 x + tan −1 y = + tan −1 , xy 1;x, y = 0
1 − xy
Let us prove a) by taking tan x = and tan −1 y = .
−1
Taking tan on both sides for both terms, we get x = tan and y = tan .
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tan A + tanB
Using formula for tan ( A + B ) = , we can write
1 − tan A tan B
tan + tan
tan ( + ) =
1 − tan tan
Writing in terms of x and y ,
x+y
tan ( + ) =
1 − xy
x+y
+ = tan −1
1 − xy
x+y
Therefore tan −1 x + tan −1 y = tan −1 , xy 1.
1 − xy
Hence proved.
The properties b) and c) can be proved in similar manner by considering y as
−y and y as x respectively in the above proof.
6. Property VI
2x
a) 2 tan −1 x = sin −1 , x 1
1 + x2
−1 1 − x
2
−1
b) 2 tan x = cos ,x 0
1 + x2
2x
c) 2 tan −1 x = tan −1 , −1 x 1
1 − x2
Let us prove a) by taking tan −1 x = y .
Taking tan on both sides, we get
x = tan y
2x 2 tan y
We can write sin −1 as sin −1 .
1+ x 2
1 + tan 2 y
2 tan x
Using formula sin 2x = , we get
1 + tan 2 x
2x
sin −1 = sin −1 ( sin 2y )
1+ x 2
Using sin −1 ( sin x ) = x , this can be written as
2x
sin −1 = 2y
1 + x2
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2x
sin −1 = 2 tan −1 x
1+ x 2
Hence proved.
The same process can be followed to prove properties b) and c) as well.
7. Property VII
a) sin ( sin −1 x ) = x , for all x −1,1
b) cos ( cos −1 x ) = x , for all x −1,1
c) tan ( tan −1 x ) = x , for all x R
d) cosec ( cosec−1x ) = x , for all x ( −, −1 1, )
e) sec ( sec −1 x ) = x , for all x ( −, −1 1, )
f) cot ( cot −1 x ) = x , for all x R
Let us prove a). We know that, if f : A → B is a bijection, then f −1 : B → A
exists such that fof −1 ( y ) = f ( f −1 ( y ) ) = y for all y B .
Clearly, all these results are direct consequences of this property.
Aliter: Let − , and x −1,1 such that sin = x .
2 2
Taking sin on both sides, = sin −1 x
x = sin = sin ( sin −1 x )
Hence, sin ( sin −1 x ) = x for all x −1,1 and we proved it.
We can prove properties from b) to f) in a similar manner.
It should be noted that, sin −1 ( sin ) , if − , .
2 2
Let us understand this better. The function y = sin −1 ( sin x ) is periodic and has
period 2 .
To draw this graph, we should draw the graph for one interval of length 2 and
repeat the entire values of x .
As we know,
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x; − x
2 2
sin −1 ( sin x ) =
( − x ) ; − − x i.e., x 3
2 2 2 2
x, − x
sin −1 ( sin x ) = 2 2
− x, x 3 ,
2 2
This is plotted as
Thus, we can note that the graph for y = sin −1 ( sin x ) is a straight line up and a
straight line down with slopes 1 and −1 respectively lying between − , .
2 2
The below result for the definition of sin −1 ( sin x ) must be kept in mind.
5 3
x + 2 ; − x −
2 2
− − x; − 3 x −
2 2
y = sin −1 ( sin x ) = x; − x
2 2
3
− x; x
2 2
x − 2; 3 5
x ...and so on
2 2
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Now we consider y = cos −1 ( cos x ) which is periodic and has period 2 .
To draw this graph, we should draw the graph for one interval of length 2 and
repeat the entire values of x of length 2
As we know,
x; 0x
cos −1 ( cos x ) =
2 − x; 0 2 − x ,
x; 0x
cos −1 ( cos x ) =
2 − x; x 2,
Thus, it has been defined for 0 x 2 that has length 2 .
So, its graph could be plotted as;
Thus, the curve y = cos −1 ( cos x ) and we can not the results as
− x, if x −,0
x, if x 0,
cos −1 ( cos x ) =
2 − x, if x ,2
−2 + x, if x 2,3 and so on.
Next, we consider y = tan −1 ( tan x ) which is periodic and has period .
To draw this graph, we should draw the graph for one interval of length and
repeat the entire values of x .
We know tan −1 ( tan x ) = x; − x . Thus, it has been defined for
2 2
− x that has length .
2 2
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The graph is plotted as
Thus, the curve for y = tan −1 ( tan x ) , where y is not defined for x ( 2n + 1) .
2
The below result can be kept in mind.
3
− − x, if x − , −
2 2
x, if x − ,
2 2
tan ( tan x ) =
−1
x − , 3
if x ,
2 2
x − 2, 3 5
if x , and so on.
2 2
Additional formulas
( )
a. sin −1 x + sin −1 y = sin −1 x 1 − y 2 + y 1 − x 2
b. sin −1 x − sin y = sin ( x 1 − y − y 1 − x )
−1 −1 2 2
c. cos −1 x + cos y = cos ( xy − 1 − x 1 − y )
−1 −1 2 2
d. cos −1 x − cos y = cos ( xy + 1 − x 1 − y )
−1 −1 2 2
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x + y + z − xyz
e. tan −1 x + tan −1 y + tan −1 z = tan −1 , if
1 − xy − yz − zx
x 0, y 0,z 0 & xy + yz + zx 1
f. tan −1 x + tan −1 y + tan −1 z = when x + y + z = xyz
g. tan −1 x + tan −1 y + tan −1 z = when xy + yz + zx = 1
2
3
h. sin −1 x + sin −1 y + sin −1 z = ; x = y = z =1
2
i. cos −1 x + cos −1 y + cos −1 z = 3; x = y = z = −1
1 1
j. tan −1 1 + tan −1 2 + 2 tan −1 3 = tan −1 1 + tan −1 + tan −1 =
2 3 2
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