Inverse Functions What We Know

Now
Brad Huang
Any mathematical education we have been received until now
1
indicate that the inverse of a function, known as f
, is able to be
obtained by switching the
the

and

in the function and to isolate

value, in order to get a new function. We are also accustomed

by the rule that usually requires us to assign letters

and

to

the horizontal and vertical dimension, respectively. Limited by these

customs, in different likelihood, will lead us to the misconceptions and
confusions about the fundamental definitions and interpretations about
the inverse functions.
Apply an inverse function into real life. A workers salary usually
depends on the time he has spent at work. Say a worker makes
s=f ( h )=15 t +5 dollars each day, in which t represents the hours he
worked. And here we just create a function. Using this function, if we
input the time he worked, in the unit of hours, we will obtain a result
with the unit of dollars. In another word, the independent variable of
the function is the time, and the dependent variable of which is salary.
Simple math.
Implement the concept about the inverse function we have
learned before this course, theoretically, we are able to obtain the
inverse function by:
t=15 s +5

s=

t5

15

Switching h and s
Isolating the dependent variable

Intuitively, we have found the inverse function

s=f 1 (t)=

t5
15 .

Interpret the meaning of the inverse function, we seem likely to input

the time, in hour that the worker has spent at work, and the function
will compute salary the worker has earned for the day. However, not

only does the interpretation seems resembling to the interpretation of

the original function, it does not make sense in real life.
Notice that using the switching technique, the independent and
dependent variables stay to be the same variable, t and s
respectively, which is contradict with the definition of the inverse
function. Using the inverse of a function, we should be able to undo the
1
function has done, in the other word, f ( f ( t ) )=t . Since in this case,
1

f ( t )=s , it is the inverse function labelled as

f 1 ( t ) , meaning that in the inverse function,

variable and

(s )

instead of

is the independent

should be the dependent variable, and the correct

function is:
t=f 1 ( s)=

s5
15

Knowing the salary of a worker, we should be able to compute

the hours he has worked for the day.
Another misconception being raised because of the lack of
background knowledge is about graphing of the inverse function. It is
widely believed that a function and its inverse function can be drawn
on the same set of Cartesian plane with the same axis, and the two
graphs and symmetric about the line y=x , the previous case of
functions are as shown:

Question being raised: What does the horizontal and vertical

axes mean? Which unit are they assigned, hour or dollars?
Customarily, horizontal axis indicates the independent variable
and vice versa. However the independent and dependent variables are

switched in the inverse function, causing the axes to indicate the

wrong interpretation of it. Therefore, inverse function should be drawn
on a different set of axes, with the reversed interpretation, meaning
and units to represent the axes.

The article enlightened

us using the fact that inverse
function is not only as simple
as switching the xs and ys, it
involves the actual reversed
computation of data and more
to come.

Reference: F. C. Wilson, S. Adamson, T. Cox, A. O'Bryan, Inverse Functions:

What Our Teachers Didn't Tell Us, Mathematics Teacher Volume 104, No. 7
(March 2011) 501-507