Precalculus Examples

$y = \sec (x)$

Step 1

Interchange the variables.

$x = \sec (y)$

Step 2

Solve for $y$ .

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Step 2.1

Rewrite the equation as $\sec (y) = x$ .

$\sec (y) = x$

Step 2.2

Take the inverse secant of both sides of the equation to extract $y$ from inside the secant.

$y = arcsec (x)$

Step 2.3

Remove parentheses.

$y = arcsec (x)$

Step 3

Replace $y$ with $f^{- 1} (x)$ to show the final answer.

$f^{- 1} (x) = arcsec (x)$

Step 4

Verify if $f^{- 1} (x) = arcsec (x)$ is the inverse of $f (x) = \sec (x)$ .

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Step 4.1

To verify the inverse, check if $f^{- 1} (f (x)) = x$ and $f (f^{- 1} (x)) = x$ .

Step 4.2

Evaluate $f^{- 1} (f (x))$ .

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Step 4.2.1

Set up the composite result function.

$f^{- 1} (f (x))$

Step 4.2.2

Evaluate $f^{- 1} (\sec (x))$ by substituting in the value of $f$ into $f^{- 1}$ .

$f^{- 1} (\sec (x)) = arcsec (\sec (x))$

Step 4.3

Evaluate $f (f^{- 1} (x))$ .

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Step 4.3.1

Set up the composite result function.

$f (f^{- 1} (x))$

Step 4.3.2

Evaluate $f (arcsec (x))$ by substituting in the value of $f^{- 1}$ into $f$ .

$f (arcsec (x)) = \sec (arcsec (x))$

Step 4.3.3

The functions secant and arcsecant are inverses.

$f (arcsec (x)) = x$

Step 4.4

Since $f^{- 1} (f (x)) = x$ and $f (f^{- 1} (x)) = x$ , then $f^{- 1} (x) = arcsec (x)$ is the inverse of $f (x) = \sec (x)$ .

$f^{- 1} (x) = arcsec (x)$