Week 1 - Inverse Trigonometric Functions

Shi, Bo-An 施柏安

Class#07 Calculus 1 TA, NTU (Ver.1)

September 6, 2023

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Table of Contents

1 Inverse Functions

2 Inverse Trigonometric Functions

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 Inverse Functions

1 Inverse Functions

2 Inverse Trigonometric Functions

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 Inverse Functions

Introduction to Inverse Functions

What is an inverse function?

How is it related to me?

(Jokes are only in class)

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 Inverse Functions

The Definition of Inverse Functions

Definition (Inverse Function)

Let f : D → R. Suppose g(x) is a function such that g(f (x)) = x
(f (x) = y, g(y) = x) for all x ∈ D. In this case, we say that g(x) is the
inverse function of f (x) and denote it by f −1 (x).

Warning
f −1 (x) ̸= 1
f (x) !

Question: What’s the domain and the range of the inverse function?

Now let’s do Exercise 1 (iii).

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 Inverse Functions

The Existence of Inverse Functions

Sometimes, the inverse function may not exist.

Example
Let f : R → R, f (x) = x2 . Suppose g(x) is the inverse function of f (x),
then g(f (x)) = x for all x ∈ R.
x = 3 ⇒ g(f (3)) = g(9) = 3
x = −3 ⇒ g(f (−3)) = g(9) = −3
So g is NOT a function. Therefore, f (x) does not have an inverse
function.
From the example, we know that if two different inputs x1 , x2 lead to the
same output y, we can’t decide the inverse function when given the input
y.
Question: Why does f : R≥0 → R, f (x) = x2 have inverse function, but
the function in example doesn’t?
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 Inverse Functions

One-to-one ⇔ Inverse Function Exists

In fact, the one-to-one property decides whether the inverse function exists.
Definition (One-to-one)
A function:f : D → R is one-to-one if f (x1 ) ̸= f (x2 ) for every x1 , x2 ∈ D
and x1 ̸= x2 .

Theorem
The inverse function f −1 (x) exists if and only if f is one-to-one.

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 Inverse Functions

Given a specific one-to-one function, how to find its inverse function?

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 Inverse Functions

Find the Inverse Function I

There are two different methods to find the inverse function.

1 Algebraic method: Find the inverse function by representing x in
terms of y. (x = f −1 (y))
Example
Given f : R → R, f (x) = 10 − 2x,

y = 10 − 2x
2x = 10 − y
10 − y
⇒ x = f −1 (y) =
2
its inverse function f −1 (x) = 10−x
2 .

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 Inverse Functions

Find the Inverse Function II

2 Geometric method: Sketch the inverse function.

Given a one-to-one function f , we can graph the inverse function by
reflecting f about the line x = y.
Example
Given f : R → R, f (x) = 2x + x (the red line), the inverse function is the
blue line.

Question: What are the pros and cons between the two methods?
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 Inverse Trigonometric Functions

1 Inverse Functions

2 Inverse Trigonometric Functions

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 Inverse Trigonometric Functions

The Inverse Function of Sine Function

As we can see, f : R → R, f (x) = sin(x) is not a one-to-one function, so

it has no inverse function.

However, sine function is periodic, so even if we sacrifice other parts of

sine function, the “information” of sine function can still be preserved.
We do an “operation” to let the sine function be defined only at
− π2 ≤ x ≤ π2 (restricted domain). Now the sine function is one-to-one and
its inverse exists.
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 Inverse Trigonometric Functions

The Properties of Arcsine Function

We call the inverse function of the sine function (with restricted domain)
arcsine function, which is denoted by arcsin(x) or sin−1 (x).

Let’s find out the basic properties of sin−1 (x)! (Exercise 3)

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 Inverse Trigonometric Functions

Other Inverse Trigonometric Functions

We can also define arccos(x), arctan(x),...

Just as the above procedure, we need to restrict the domain of the
function to let the function be one-to-one.

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 Inverse Trigonometric Functions

Other Inverse Trigonometric Functions

y = cos(x), x ∈ [0, π]:

y = tan(x), x ∈ (− π2 , π2 ):

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 Inverse Trigonometric Functions

The Applications of Inverse Trigonometric Functions

We can find the radian (degree) of an angle of a right triangle by

calculating the ratio of the edges’ lengths.
We can use inverse trigonometric functions to represent the integral
of a function.

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