- Difficulty
- Introductory
- Suggested time
- 3 min
- Marks
- 2
Implicit differentiation and inverse trigonometric functions practice question 2
Let . Find .
The arcsin here is applied to , not to . Which standard derivative do you need, and what extra factor does the inside bring?
. Here , so , and at the inside is .
An exact expression, or a decimal to three decimal places.
Theory UBC Math 100 §4.7CLP-1 §2.12Key results
Worked solution
Strategy
The derivative of arcsin is a standard result; the argument x/3 brings in a chain-rule factor of 1/3.
Working
Derivative of arcsin at the inside, times the inner derivative.
At x = 3/2 the inside is 1/2, and √(3/4) = √3/2.
Answer
The answer is 2 over 3 root 3, about 0.385.
Check
The inverse, x = 3 sin y, has slope 3 cos(π/6) = 3√3/2 ≈ 2.598 at y = π/6, and 1/2.598 ≈ 0.385.
Where this goes wrong
Forgetting the inner derivative and answering 2/√3. The inside is x/3, so the chain rule multiplies by 1/3.
Leans on
The chain rule, from The chain rule and logarithms
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