1.

4 Inverse Functions
Examples:
1. The function f is defined as f: x
5
3

+
x
x
, x 5.
Find f

1
and f

1
(2). [
1
3 5

+
x
x
; 13]
2 Given f : x 3x + 2, find f

1
(4). [
2
/3 ]
3. Given f : x 6 2x. Find
a) f

1
(x)
1
]
1

2
6 x
b) the value of k such that f

1
(k) = k. [2]
4. Given f (x) = 2x 1 and f

1
(a) = 5.
Find the value of a. [11]
5. Given f

1
(x) = 3x. Find f (x). [
x
/3]
6. Given f : x
2
+
x
b ax
, x 2 and f

1
: x
3
) 1 ( 2

+
x
x
,
x 3. Find the values of a and b. [a = 3, b = 2]
7. The functions f and g are each defined as
f : x
1
3
+ x
, x 1 and g : x
x
1
+ 2, x 0.
Find f

1
and g

1
. Hence, find the values of
a) f

1
g (1) b) f

1
g

1
(4)
[ f

1
(x) =
x
3
1, x 0; g

1
(x) =
2
1
x
, x 2; a) 2 b)
5]
8. Given f : x 3x 2. Find an expression for
a) f
2
b) (f

1
)
2
[a) 9x 8 b)
9
8 + x
]
Exercises
1. Find the inverse function of each of the following
functions:
a) f : x 8 5x b) f : x x + 3
c) f : x 2
x
3
, x 0
d) f : x
3
2
,
3 2

+
x
x
x
[a)
5
8 x
b) (x 3)
2
c)
x 2
3
d)
x
x
3 1
2

]

2. Given f(x) = 2x 7. Find f

1
(1) and f

1
(7).
[4 , 0]
3. Given f(x) = 5
x
2
, x 0. If f

1
(a) =
a
3
, find the
value of a. [a = 3]
4. Given g : x
x p
x
+
8
, x 8 and g

1
(2) = 26.
Find the value of p. [10]
5. Given f : x ax + b, f(4) = 6 and f

1
(12) = 6, find the
values of a and b. [a = 3, b = 6]
6. If the inverse function of the function f is defined as
f

1
(x) =
5
1 3 x
, find the function f.
Hence, find the value of a such that f(a) = 2a + 3.
[
3
1 5 + x
,
8]
7. Given f : x
3
+
x
b ax
, x 3 and f

1
: x
2
5 3

x
x
,
x 2. Find the values of a and b. [a = 2, b = 5]
8. Given f : x 2 3x. Find
a) f

1
f (x) b) ff

1
(x) [a) x b) x]
9. Given f : x
x
x
2
, x 2 and g : x ax + b where a
and b are constants.
a) Find f

1
, [
1
2
+ x
x
, x
-1]
b) Given g

1
(5) = 4 and gf (4) = 7.
Find the values of a and b. [a = 2, b = 3]
10. The diagram shows the mapping of y onto x by the
function f : y py + q and the mapping of y onto z by
the function g : y
2
,
2
6 q
y
q y

. Find

a) the values of p and q, [p = 6, q = 10]
b) the function that maps x onto y,
c) the function that maps x onto z.
[b)
20 ,
20
18
)
6
10

+

y
y
c
y
]
9
x
y
z
x
y
z
-2
2 -1
10
Functions Further Exercises:
SPM Questions
1 (1993, PI, 4) Given the functions f : x
3 4x and g : x x
2
1, find
a) f

1
[
4
3 x
]
b) the value of f

1
g(3). [
5
/4 ]
2. (1994, PI, 13b) A function f is defined
as f : x
x
x p
2 3 +
+
, for all values of x
except x = h and p is a constant.
(i) Determine the value of h. [
3
/2]
(ii) Given that 2 is mapped onto itself
under the function f. Find
a) the value of p [12]
b) another value of x which maps
onto itself. [3]
c) the value of f

1
(1). [5]
3. (1995, PI, 3) Given f : x 3x + c and
its inverse f

1
: x mx +
4
/3 . Find
a) the values m and c [m =
1
/3 , c = 4]
b) (i) f (3) [5]
(ii) f

1
(3) [
7
/3]
4. (1995, PI, 12a) Given f : x mx + n,
g : x (x + 1)
2
4 and
fg : x 2(x + 1)
2
5. Find
(i) the value of g
2
(1), [3]
(ii) the values of m and n, [m = 2, n = 3]
(iii) gf

1
1
]
1

4
15 2
2
x x
5. (1996, PI, 3) Given f : x
2
+
x
k hx
,
x 2 and f

1
: x
3
5 2

x
x
, x 3.
Find
a) the values of h and k, [h = 3, k = 5]
b) the values of x where f(x) = 2x.
[
5
/2 , 1]
6. (1997, PI, 12) a) The diagram shows
the mapping of y to x by a function
g : y ay + b and the mapping of y to
z by a function
h : y
2
,
2
6 b
y
b y

. Find
(i) the values of a and b,
[a = 6, b = 10]
(ii) the function that maps x to y
[g

1
(x) =
6
10 x
]
(iii) the function that maps x to z.


1
]
1

20
18
x

b) Use a piece of graph paper to
answer the following questions:
Given f (x) = 2x + 1 and
g(x) =
x
/2 + 4.
(i) Draw the graphs y = f (x) and
y = g(x) on the same axes for
4 x 4.
(ii) From your graph, find the range of
the values of x which satisfies the
inequality 2x + 1 <
x
/2 + 4
[2 < x < 2]
7. (1998, PI, 12a) Given f (x) = 6x + 5
and g (x) = 2x + 3. Find
(i) fg

1
(x) [3x 4]
(ii) the value of x so that gf(x) = 25
[1]
8. (1999, PI, 2) Given f : x k mx.
Find
a) f

1
(x) in terms of k and m
[
m
x k
]
b) the values of k and m, if
f

1
(14) = 4 and f (5) = 13.
[m = 3, k = 2]
9. (2000, PI, 2) Given g

1
(x) =

3
5 kx
and f(x) = 3x
2
5. Find
a) g (x) [
k
x 3 5
]
b) the value of k so that g(x
2
) = 2f(x)
[
1
/2]
10. (2001, PI, 3) Given f(x) = ax + b, a > 0
and f
2
(x) = 9x 8. Find
a) the values of a and b [a = 3, b = 2]
b) (f

1
)
2
.
1
]
1

+
9
8 x
11. (2001, PI, 13) Given f

1
(x) =

x p
1
, x p and g(x) = 3 + x.
Find
a) f (x)
1
]
1

x
px 1
b) the value of p if
ff

1
(p
2
1) = g[(2 p)
2
] [2]
*c) the range of the values of p so that
f

1
g(x) = x has no real roots. [1, 5]
12. (2002, PI, 3) a) Given f(x) = 3x + 1,
find the value of f

1
(5). [
4
/3]
b) Given f(x) = 5 3x and g(x) =
2ax + b, where a and b are
constants. If fg(x) = 8 3x,
find the values of a and b.
[a = , b = 1]
13. (2002, PI, 12a) Given f(x) = 4x 2
and g(x) = 5x + 3. Find
i) fg

1
(x)
1
]
1

5
22 4x
ii) the value of x where
fg

1
5
2
2

,
_

x

[12]
14. (2003, PI, 2) Given g(x) = 5x + 1 and
h(x) = x
2
2x + 3, find
a) g

1
(3) [
2
/5]
b) hg(x) [25x
2
+ 2]
15. (2004, P1, 2) Given the functions
h(x) = 4x + m and h
-1
(x) = 2kx +
8
5
,
where m and k are constants, find the
value of m and of k.

1
]
1

8
1
,
2
5
k m
16. (2005, P1, 1) In the diagram, the
function h maps x to y and the function
g maps y to z.
Determine a) h
-1
(5)
b) gh(2)
17. (2005, P1 2) The function w is defined
as w(x) = 2 ,
2
5

x
x
. Find
a) w
-1
(x)
1
]
1

0 ,
5 2
x
x
x
b) w
-1
(4) [ ]
18. The following information refers to the
functions h and g.
h : x 2x 3
g : x 4x 1

Find gh
-1
(x). [2x + 5]
19. (2006, P2, 2) Given that f(x) = 3x 2
and g(x) = 1
5
+
x
, find
4
2
0
2
4
2
0
2
4
2
0
3
1
1
_
_
_
_
_
_
x y z
2
_
__
_
_
__
_
_
x y z
h
_
_
g
2
5
8
11
a) f
-1
(x)
1
]
1

+
3
2 x
b) f
-1
g (x)
1
]
1

+
15
15 x
c) h(x) such that hg(x) = 2x + 6.
[10x 4]
20. (2007, P1, 3) The following
information is about the function h and
the composite function h
2
.
h(x) = ax + b, where a and b are
constants, and a > 0.
h
2
(x) = 36x 35.
Find the value of a and of b.
[a = 6, b = -5]
21. (2008, P1, 2) Given the functions
g(x) = 5x + 2 and h(x) = x
2
4x + 3,
find
a) g
-1
(6) [4/5]
b) hg(x) [25x
2
1]
22. (2008, P1, 3) Given the functions
f(x) = x 1 and g(x) = kx + 2, find
a) f (5) [4]
b) the value of k such that
gf (5) = 14. [3]
12