Final answer:
The angle whose cosine is 1/2 is 60°; this is the principal value. There is also a corresponding angle in the fourth quadrant, which is 300°. These are the two angles where the cosine equals 1/2.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is asking for the value of cos⁻¹(1/2) in degrees. To find the angle whose cosine is 1/2, we can refer to a unit circle or common trigonometric ratios. The cosine corresponds to the horizontal coordinate of a point on the unit circle. Since cosine is positive in both the first and fourth quadrants, and cos(60°) is 1/2, the angle that has a cosine of 1/2 is 60°. If the problem asks for the principal value, which is the range of values the inverse cosine function can output (from 0° to 180° for degrees), the answer will be 60°. However, since cosine is symmetric about the y-axis, there is another angle in the fourth quadrant with the same cosine value, which is 360° - 60° = 300°.