Concept understanding — Derivatives of Inverse Trigonometric Functions
Inverse trigonometric functions (sin−1x,cos−1x,tan−1x,cot−1x,sec−1x,cosec−1x) are multi-valued in general, so a principal branch (a restricted domain and range) is fixed for each before differentiating. Each derivative is found by treating y= (inverse trig function of x) as x= (trig function of y), differentiating implicitly with respect to y, and using a Pythagorean identity to express the result back in terms of x. The six standard results are: dxdsin−1x=1−x21, dxdcos−1x=−1−x21, dxdtan−1x=1+x21, dxdcot−1x=−1+x21, dxdsec−1x=xx2−11 (for x>1; sign flips for x<−1), and dxdcosec−1x=−xx2−11 (for x>1; sign flips for x<−1). When the argument is a function f(x) rather than pla …
Let u=21+x2, so u′=x. Using dxdsin−1u=1−u2u′, we need 1−u2=1−4(1+x2)2=44−(1+x2)2. Factor the numerator as a difference of squares: 4−(1+x2)2=[2−(1+x2)][2+(1+x2)]=(1−x2)(3+x2). So 1−u2=4(1−x2)(3+x2), and $\sqrt{1-u^2}=\dfrac{\sqrt{(1-x^2)(3+x^2) …