inverse function (redirected from Functional inverse)

inverse function

Mathematical function that undoes the effect of another function. For example, the inverse function of the formula that converts Celsius temperature to Fahrenheit temperature is the formula that converts Fahrenheit to Celsius. Applying one formula and then the other yields the original temperature. Inverse procedures are essential to solving equations because they allow mathematical operations to be reversed (e.g. logarithms, the inverses of exponential functions, are used to solve exponential equations). Whenever a mathematical procedure is introduced, one of the most important questions is how to invert it. Thus, for example, the trigonometric functions gave rise to the inverse trigonometric functions.

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inverse function [′in‚vərs ′fənk·shən]

(mathematics)

An inverse function for a function ƒ is a functiongwhose domain is the range of ƒ and whose range is the domain of ƒ with the property that both ƒ composed withgandgcomposed with ƒ give the identity function.