Practical Considerations
For angles near 0 and π, arccosine is ill-conditioned and will thus calculate the angle with reduced accuracy in a computer implementation (due to the limited number of digits). Similarly, arcsine is inaccurate for angles near −π/2 and π/2. To achieve full accuracy for all angles, arctangent or atan2 should be used for the implementation.
Read more about this topic: Inverse Trigonometric Functions
Famous quotes containing the word practical:
“The best way to teach a child restraint and generosity is to be a model of those qualities yourself. If your child sees that you want a particular item but refrain from buying it, either because it isn’t practical or because you can’t afford it, he will begin to understand restraint. Likewise, if you donate books or clothing to charity, take him with you to distribute the items to teach him about generosity.”
—Lawrence Balter (20th century)