GENERAL MATHEMATICS

MODULE 3, LESSON 5: INVERSE FUNCTION

I. Overview:
 This lesson will demonstrates understanding of key concepts of inverse functions.
II. Objective:
 Represents real-life situations using one-to one functions.
 Determines the inverse of a one-to-one function.
 Finds the domain and range of an inverse function.
 Solves problems involving inverse functions.

III. Content Outline:

 Please take time to read and understand this part because all graded activities and
quizzes will be coming from these contents.

The importance of one-to-one functions is due to the fact that these are the only functions
that have an inverse, as defined below.

ONE-TO-ONE FUNCTION
 A function f is one-to-one if every number in its range corresponds to exactly
one number in its domain, that is, for all x 1 and x 2 in the domain of f , if x 1 ≠ x 2
then f (x 2)≠ f (x 2 ). Equivalently, f (x 1)=f (x 2) only when x 1=x 2.

INVERSE FUNCTION
 If f is a one-to-one function, then the inverse of f , denoted by f −1, is the
function formed by reversing all the ordered pairs in f . thus f −1={( y , x) :( x , y) is
in f }. If f is not one-to-one, then f does not have an inverse and f −1 does not
exist.

A function has an inverse if and only if it is one-to-one. If a function f is not

one-to-one, properly defining an inverse function f −1 will be problematic. For example,
suppose that f (1)=5 and f (3)=5. If f −1 exists, then f −1 (5) has to be both 1 and 3, and this
prevents f −1 from being a valid function. This is the reason why the inverse is only defined for
one-to-one functions.

Properties of Inverse Function

If f −1 exist, then
1. f −1 is a one-to-one function.
2. Domain of f −1=¿ range of f .
3. Range of f −1=¿ domain of f .

Example 1. Determine if the inverse function of f (x)=2 x +3 exists.

Solution: First, we need to determine if f is one-to-one. Let x 1 and x 2 be real numbers with
f (x 1)=f (x 2) .

f (x 1)=f ¿
2 x1 +3=2 x 2 +3
2 x1 =2 x 2
x 1=x 2

Therefore, f is one-to-one and f −1 (x) , exists.

To find f −1 ( x) , we first let y=f (x ), interchange the roles of x and y, and solve for y.
f (x)=2 x +3
y=2 x +3 Write y=f (x )
x=2 y +3 Interchange the roles of x and y.
 2 y=x−3 Isolate the y-term
x−3
y= Solve for y.
2
−1 x−3
f (x)=
2
The domains and ranges of f and f −1 consist of all real numbers. It can be verified that

( ) ( )
f (f −1 (x))=f
x−3
2
=2
x−3
2
+3= x and f −1 (f (x))=f −1 (2 x+3)=
(2 x +3)−3
2
=x .

Finding an Inverse Function

1. Determine if the function is one-to-one. If is not one-to-one, then does not
exist.
2. In the equation for , replace by .
3. Interchange the roles of and and solve for .
4. Replace by in the new equation.
5. Find the domain of . remember the domain of must be the same as the
range of .

Check your work by verifying that for all in the domain of and
for all in the domain of .

Example 2. determine if the inverse of a function exists.

Solution: First we will use the definition of one-to-one functions. Let and be
nonnegative real numbers with .

Therefore, is one-to-one. Now lets find the inverse of the one-to-one function
.

Example 3. Find the inverse of a function .

Solution:
 Example 4. Find the inverse of a function .
Solution:

Example 5. Find the inverse of a function .

Solution:

IV. Activities:

 Determine if is a one-to-one or not. If a function is a one-to-one find the inverse of the

function.

1.

2.
3.
4.

5.
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 10.
V. Assignment: