Usage of Arcs (arcsin, arctan , ...)

[Ocean5]

I took a basic math class to elevate my middle school math understanding. We went through some trig, but we never went through Arcsin , arccos , arctan...

Could some one tell me in what cases do we use them. In other words what are their usage? What identities of them should we know? thank you.

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[Streetwolf]

Inverse of the sin, cos, and tan functions respectively.

sin(x) = y
arcsin👍 = x

Just like subtraction is the inverse of addition. It takes the answer of sin(x) and brings it back to just x.

So sin(pi/6) = 1/2

Thus arcsin(1/2) = pi/6

 

[Ocean5]

Inverse of the sin, cos, and tan functions respectively.

sin(x) = y
arcsin👍 = x

Just like subtraction is the inverse of addition. It takes the answer of sin(x) and brings it back to just x.

So sin(pi/6) = 1/2

Thus arcsin(1/2) = pi/6

Streetwolf could you please tell me what kind of qs will be associated with it. I don't think they will give you a problem as simple as what you said above. Thanks for your post.
I appreciate any more examples on this topic. Trig has been very confusing!

 

[D.D.S.]

Streetwolf could you please tell me what kind of qs will be associated with it. I don't think they will give you a problem as simple as what you said above. Thanks for your post.
I appreciate any more examples on this topic. Trig has been very confusing!

I took the DATs yesterday, and I saw simple problems such as these on it. I dont remember the exact questions, but they were simple enough, that if you can apply your basic knowledge and put some ideas together, you will be able to solve it.

 

[smec]

Here's a good one extracted from AAMC's MCAT 3R:

The Mercury planet is found to be precessing around the Sun at a rate of 500 arcsec/century. How many centuries will be required for Mercury's perihelion (closest point to the Sun) to precess 360 deg?


Ans: 360 deg x 60 arcmin/deg x 60 arcsec/arcmin x (1 century /500 arcsec)