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Inverse Trig Calculator

Calculate arcsin, arccos, or arctan of a value, with the result shown in both degrees and radians.

Category: math
Use Case: Trigonometry Homework, Finding an Angle from a Ratio, Physics and Engineering Calculations
Privacy: 100% browser-based

arcsin (sin⁻¹)(0.5) in degrees

30.0000°

arcsin (sin⁻¹)(0.5) in radians

0.523599

Recommended Settings

Pro Tips

  • Inverse trig functions answer 'what angle produces this ratio?' - arcsin(0.5) asks what angle has a sine of 0.5
  • arcsin and arccos are only defined for inputs between -1 and 1, since sine and cosine never produce values outside that range
  • arctan accepts any real number, since the tangent function's range covers all real numbers
  • The principal value is always returned - the standard convention range is -90° to 90° for arcsin and arctan, and 0° to 180° for arccos

Most Popular

Most people use arcsin or arccos to find an angle in a right triangle when they know two side lengths

When to Use This Tool

Trigonometry Homework

Find the angle corresponding to a known sine, cosine, or tangent ratio.

Finding an Angle from a Ratio

Determine a triangle's angle when you know the ratio of two of its sides.

Physics and Engineering Calculations

Calculate an angle of incidence, elevation, or direction from a known ratio.

Checking a Calculator or Textbook Answer

Verify an inverse trig calculation from another source.

How It Works

1

Validate that the input is within the valid domain for the selected inverse function

2

Compute the angle in radians using the browser's built-in inverse trigonometric functions

3

Convert the radian result to degrees for display alongside the original radian value

100% Private

Files never leave your device. All processing happens locally in your browser.

Lightning Fast

Powered by Client-side trigonometric calculation for optimal performance on modern browsers.

Open Source

Built with verified, open-source libraries. Fully transparent.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is arcsin only defined between -1 and 1?

Because sine itself only ever produces values between -1 and 1, there's no angle whose sine equals a number outside that range, so arcsin has no valid input beyond it.

What's the difference between degrees and radians here?

Both represent the same angle, just in different units - degrees divide a full circle into 360 parts, while radians measure the angle by arc length relative to the radius, with a full circle equal to 2π radians.

Why does arctan accept any number?

Tangent's range covers all real numbers, from negative infinity to positive infinity, so arctan can accept any real number as input and always returns a valid angle.

Is my data sent anywhere?

No. All calculations happen locally in your browser.