Darros Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 Hey there, sorry for making a thread about math if you're one of those people that hates it - but I just wanted to run a quick poll about notation because it's been brought to my attention by a friend that the fact that I use arcsin, arccos, and arctan is weird. I know the inverse notation is clear [cos⁻¹(x) obviously isn't the same as sec(x)] but I've always just preferred using arc notation for my trig. So here's a small poll, which one do you use when you encounter trig? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena_57 Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 Hi mathstudent here, I use arctan etc, as a ^-1 notation really bothers me and confuses me regarding division. In my own quick calculations however when I'm certain division won't come up I'll sometimes use ^-1 to save space/time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acacia Sgt Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 Whenever I've found stuff like this, I mainly use -1, though on some occasions I use arc. It really depends on what the problem itself I'm solving uses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skfoos Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 I've seen and used both enough times to the point that they're both perfectly fine with me. The one I personally use depends on if I'm writing (^-1) or typing (arc). However, I usually think of ^-1 when someone says inverse, so I voted for that (plus that's what's on the calculators that I use). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slumber Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 (edited) tan⁻¹(x), mostly because that's how calculators usually format it. Just became habit, really. Edited July 25, 2017 by Slumber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ping Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 (edited) As someone who occasionally tutors pupils in math, I'm annoyed that calculators use the sin⁻¹ notation. It's confusing and unnecessarily so, since arcsin is simply a more clear notation. Edited July 25, 2017 by ping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZessDynamite Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 (edited) I've always found the tan⁻¹(x) notation to be more clear. For a function F, its inverse is notated F⁻¹. Tan is a function, so it makes sense why inverse tangent is notated tan⁻¹. Of course, that rule isn't really applied for any other common function like addition or multiplication. And my experience with trig problems is fairly limited, I might find arcsin/arccos/arctan better as time goes on. Edited July 25, 2017 by 3+2=Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 I prefer using arctan, but since calculators mostly use tan-1, i'm also used to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integrity Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 i love saying arctan so i also type arctan and write arctan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CriticalMiss Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 I prefer to say arctan, but I find that tan^(-1) is more convenient to write Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpent of Sheol Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 i intergangeably use both i tend to use tan^-1 when doing things with a lot of writing and arctan with short stuff also i agree with ike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Raven Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 i use arctan so i dont have to deal with superscripts; i prefer to keep things in one line if possible that's also why i'm starting to get into the habit of using exp(...) instead of e^... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedoom Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 tan inverse>arctan I see arctan a lot in programming stuff though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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