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  −1,10
  
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; 0x
cos −1 ( cos x ) = 
2 − x; 0  2 − x  ,
 x; 0x
 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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