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How would I write $\sin^{-1}(a+b)$ in terms of $\sin^{-1}(a)$ and $\sin^{-1}(b)$? Assume that $\sin^{-1}(a+b)$ exists. Is it possible because I know you can easily write out $\sin^{-1}(a) + \sin^{-1}(b)$

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Since $\arcsin x$ is odd what we can say is that

$$\arcsin a + \arcsin (-a)= \arcsin (a-a)=\arcsin 0 =0 $$

but there are not simple expression for the general $a$ and $b$.

One reason for this is that $\arcsin x$ is defined for $x\in[-1,1]$ thus if we consider, for example, $a=1$ and $b=\frac12$ we can define $\arcsin a$ and $\arcsin b$ but $\arcsin(a+b)$ is meaningless.

user
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  • There are ways that the expression can be undefined if $|a+b|>1$ – Ralph Tarantino Jan 23 '18 at 23:58
  • @RalphTarantino We could also take $\arcsin(100+(-99))=\frac{\pi}{2}$ but $\arcsin(100)$ and $\arcsin(-99)$ are not defined. This is not obviously a proof but can give an idea for the fact that is not simple to define such relations for this function. – user Jan 24 '18 at 00:08