CHAPTER 3 – INVERSE FUNCTIONS

LEARNING TARGETS
After finishing this chapter, you are expected to:

 Represent real-life situations using one-to-one functions

 Determine the inverse of a one-to-one function
 Represent an inverse function through its table of values and graph
 Find the domain and range of an inverse function
 Graph inverse functions
 Solve problems involving inverse functions

INTRODUCTION
In the previous chapter, you have learned that a rational function can be expressed as a ratio of two
polynomial functions. Many real-life problems can be solved by using the concepts of rational functions.

In this chapter, you will encounter another kind of function called an inverse function. An inverse
function is a function that arises from another function but a function may or may not have an inverse function.

Recall that a function is a relation in which every ordered pair (x,y) has one and only value of y
corresponding to each value of x. Based on the definition of function, if f  x  is a function then interchanging
each ordered pair, you have g  x  which is also a function. The function g  x  is called the inverse of a
function f  x  . Hence, f  x  and g  x  are inverse functions.

3.1 INVERSE FUNCTION

Let a function f be a one-to-one function. A function is said to be one-to-one whenever there are two numbers in the
   
domain of f, say a and b, and a ≠ b, then f a  f b . Similarly, if f is one-to-one and f a  f b , then it follows that a =
b. On the other hand, the interchange of elements of each pair in a function will produce a new function if and only if, the second
elements in each pair of the given function are all different. Hence, only one-to-one functions have inverses which are also
functions. The new function produced under this condition is called the inverse of the given function.

If f is a function consisting of ordered pairs (x,y), then there is a relation called the inverse of f, denoted by f-1, whose
elements are the ordered pairs (y,x) produced by interchanging the first and second elements of each ordered pair. The inverse
of a function is a rule that acts on the output of the function and produces the corresponding input. So, the inverse reverses what
the function has done. Not all functions have inverses; those that do are called one-to-one.

1
Let f be a one-to-one function with domain A and range B. The inverse function f has domain B and range A and
is defined by

f 1  y   x  f x   y

for any y in B.

Please consider the following examples:

1. Find the inverse equation of the function defined by f x   2 x  3 .

x3  5
2. Find the inverse of the function f  x  
2
3. Find an equation for the inverse of f x   2 x  1

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DO-IT-YOURSELF INVERSE OF A FUNCTION

Name: __________________________________________________________ Score: ________

Section: _____________________________________________ Teacher: ___________________
Track: [ ] ABM [ ] STEM [ ] HUMSS [ ] GAS Others: _________

Find the inverse of the following functions.

1. f x   x 2  9

2. f x   x  4

3. f x   9  x

x 1
4. f  x  
x2

x2 1
5. f  x  
x3

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 3.2 DOMAIN, RANGE AND GRAPH OF AN INVERSE FUNCTION

Let f be one-to-one function with domain D and range R. The inverse function f-1 has domain R and range D and is
defined by f 1  y   x and f  x   y for any y in R.

Examine the graph of an inverse function f  x   3 x  2 in Figure 3.1.

x2
The inverse function of f  x   3 x  2 is f ( x)  g  x  
1
. First, you have to make a table of values for
3
x2
f  x   3 x  2 and g  x   as shown in Table 3.1 and Table 3.2. Sketch the graph of f  x   3 x  2 and
3
x2
g x   . Note that the two graphs are reflections of each other through the line y = x. This is because of the interchange
3
of the roles of x and y coordinates.

Table 3.1 Values of f  x  at some values of x

x 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
f x   3x  2 -1.4 -0.8 -0.2 0.4 1 1.6 2.2 2.8

Table 3.2 Values of g  x  at some values of x

x -1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.2 0 0.5 0.7 1
x2
g x  
3
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.3 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

Figure 3.1 Graph of the function f  x   3 x  2 and its inverse

Examine the graph of an inverse function f x   1  4  3x in Figure 3.2.

The inverse function of f x   1  4  3x is f 1 ( x)  g x  

1
3
 
 x 2  2 x  3 . First, you have to make a table

of values for f x   1  4  3x and g  x  

1
3
 
 x 2  2 x  3 as shown in Table 3.3 and Table 3.4. Sketch the graph

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 of f x   1  4  3x and g  x  
1
3
 
 x 2  2 x  3 . Note that the two graphs are reflections of each other through the
line y = x. This is because of the interchange of the roles of x and y coordinates.

Figure 3.2 Graph of the function f x   1  4  3x and its inverse

Table 3.3 Values of f  x  at some values of x

x 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.1 1.2 1.3
f  x   1  4  3x -0.8 -0.7 -0.5 -0.3 0 0.2 0.4 0.7

Table 3.4 Values of g  x  at some values of x

x -1 -0.5 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
1
3
 
g x    x 2  2 x  3 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.3

Graphically, a function is one-to-one if and only if every if a horizontal line intersects the graph of the function in at most
one point. This is called the horizontal line test.

Therefore, the following are the properties derived from the graph of f  x  and its inverse function g  x .

1. The domain of f 1 is the range of f .

2. f 1 is the domain of f .
The range of
1
3. The graphs of f and f are symmetric with respect to the line y  x.

Please consider the following examples:

Find the domain, range and inverse of the following functions then sketch the graph.

x2
1. f x  
x2
f x  
1
2.
x 1
3. f x   x 2  9
3x  2
4. f x  
1 x
5. f x   x  2  1, x  2

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6.
DO-IT-YOURSELF DOMAIN, RANGE AND GRAPH OF AN INVERSE FUNCTION

Name: __________________________________________________________ Score: ________

Section: _____________________________________________ Teacher: ___________________
Track: [ ] ABM [ ] STEM [ ] HUMSS [ ] GAS Others: _________

Find the domain, range and inverse of the following functions then sketch the graph.

f x  
2
1.
x 1

2. f x   x 2  5 x  4

3. f x   5 x  5

x3
4. f x  
x2

5. f x   x  4 , x  4

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 DO-IT-YOURSELF APPLICATION OF INVERSE FUNCTION

Name: __________________________________________________________ Score: ________

Section: _____________________________________________ Teacher: ___________________
Track: [ ] ABM [ ] STEM [ ] HUMSS [ ] GAS Others: _________

Solve the following problems. You may use additional sheets for your solutions if needed.

1. The municipal mayor gets the services of a statistical center to estimate the cost of eliminating the effects of water
pollution in his municipality. The center presents the formula

C x  
90 x
,
180  x

where C  x  is in millions of pesos and x is the number of days.

a. Find C 1.
b. Compute for C 1 30.

2. A group of environmentalists is commissioned by the government to estimate the cost of reducing the air pollution caused
by vehicles by x%. The findings show that the cost in millions of pesos is given by

C x  
40 x
80  0.55 x

a. Find C 1.
b. Compute for C 1 20.

3. If f t  pesos is the amount in t years of a foreign investment of Php 5.5 billion at 12% simple interest, then
f t   5,500,000,000 1  0.12t 
1
a. Determine the inverse function f that expresses the number of years that Php 5,500,000,000.00 has been invested
at 12% simple interest as function of the amount of investment.
b. Find f 1 6,250,000,000 .

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 END OF CHAPTER TEST

Name: ______________________________________________________ Score: ________ / 10

Section: ____________ Teacher: ____________________________________________________
Track: [ ] ABM [ ] STEM [ ] HUMSS [ ] GAS Others: _________

Write the CAPITAL LETTER of your choice on the blank provided before each number.

________1. Which of the following functions is NOT one-to-one?

A. f x   x 3  5 C. f  x   5 x  10
B. f x   x D. f x   x 2  5 x

________ 2. Which of the following is the inverse of f x   1  4 x 2 ?

4 x2
A. C.
x 4
1 x 2
B. D.
2 x

________ 3. Sketch the graph of the inverse of f  x   3  5 x.

A. C.

B. D.

5x  3
________ 4. If the inverse of the function is f 1  x   , what is the function?
4
4x  3 3  4x
A. f x   C. f x  
5 5
5x  4 4  3x
B. f  x   D. f  x  
3 5

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 ________ 5. If f x   x  2  1, what is the domain of its inverse function?
A. x | x  1 C. x | x  1
B. x | x  1 D. x | x  1

________ 6. If g x   x 2  4, what is the range its inverse function?

A. y | y  4 C. y | y  0
B. y | y  0 D. y | y  4

________ 7. The graph if the function and its inverse is ________.

A. both passing through (0,0)
B. symmetric with respect to the line y = x
C. symmetric with respect to (0,0)
D. the same

________ 8. Determine the inverse of f x   3  3  x .

A. f x   x  6 x  6
1 2
C. f 1 x   x 2  6 x  6
B. f x   x 2  6 x  6
1
D. f 1 x   x 2  6 x  6

For numbers 9 and 10, please refer to the problem below:

18 x  10
A plant manager determines that the cost C of producing x boxes is given by C x   , where C  x  is
5
in pesos.

________ 9. Find C 1 x .
10 x  5 5x  2
A. C.
18 18
10 x  9 5 x  10 
B. D.
18 18

________ 10. What is the value of C 1 75  ?

A. Php 2689.00 C. Php 2968.00
B. Php 2698.00 D. Php 2986.00

If you got a score of:

10 – Excellent!
8 – 9 – Very Good!
5 – 7 – Good!
1 – 4 – Try again and don’t give up; ask for your teacher’s assistance.

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