Question #a2179

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BeeFree
Oct 10, 2015

Samina - the first in an inverse trig function while the latter is reciprocal of #cos(x)#

Explanation:

The argument "x" for #cos^-1(x)# will always be the ratio of adjacent over hypotenuse. For example:

#cos^-1(1/2)= 60^o#

In other words for a right triangle, #cos(60^o)=1/2# so the inverse of this is simply #cos^-1(1/2)= 60^o#

For the latter using the same example, #1/cos(x)#:

#1/cos(60^o)=1/(1/2)= 2=sec(60)#

Hope that helped

aniruddho r.
Oct 10, 2015

They are very different.

Explanation:

1/cos(x) is simply sec(x) which gives the value of sec(x) (a real number) for a given x (an angle). But cos^-1(x) gives the value of x if you already know the value of cos(x). It,s somewhat like log and antilog.

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