Thomas' Calculus 13th Edition

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0-32187-896-5
ISBN 13: 978-0-32187-896-0

Chapter 7: Transcendental Functions - Section 7.6 - Inverse Trigonometric Functions - Exercises 7.6 - Page 420: 13

Answer

$\displaystyle \frac{\pi}{2}$

Work Step by Step

$y=\sin^{-1}x$ is the number in $[-\pi/2, \pi/2]$ for which $\sin y=x.$ As the value of sine approaches 1 (from the left, because it can't approach it from the right - sine is never greater than 1), the angle we approach (in radians) is $\displaystyle \frac{\pi}{2}$. Alternatively, we can reach the same conclusion by observing the graph of $y=\sin^{-1}x$ (also written as $\arcsin x$) in the vicinity of x=1. See below.
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