How would you solve the inverse of the function #f(x)= absx + 1#?

1 Answer
Sep 6, 2015

Note that the inverse of #f(x)=abs(x)+1# is not a function.
However we could claim #+-sqrt(x^2-2x+1# is its inverse mapping.

Explanation:

Replacing #f(x)# with #y# for simplicity.
graph{abs(x)+1 [-5.78, 6.704, -0.68, 5.56]}
Note that for every value #y > 1# there are 2 values of #x#
and therefore the inverse of #f(x)# can not be a function .

However, given #y = abs(x)+1#
if we exchange the #x# and #y# variables to get an inverse mapping:
#color(white)("XXX")x=abs(y)+1#

#rarrcolor(white)("XX")abs(y)= x-1#

#rarrcolor(white)("XX")y^2 =(x-1)^2 = x^2-2x+1#

#rarrcolor(white)("XX")y = +-sqrt(x^2-2x+1)#