How do you evaluate #arccos(-1)# without a calculator?

1 Answer
Feb 18, 2017

Use a unit circle: #arccos(-1) = pi#

Explanation:

#arccos(-1)# means: find me the angle that gives a #cos(-1).#

You do need to realize that the #arccos# function has a restricted domain and range.

From the graph you can see that the restrictions are as follows:
Domain: #[-1, 1]# and Range: #[0, pi]#
graph{arccos(x) [-5.074, 4.79, -0.76, 4.172]}

This means that the only angle that has a #cos(-1) = pi#