The function is defined by , .
- (a)
Give a reason why does not have an inverse.
- (b)
The domain is now restricted to . Find and state its domain, showing your working clearly.
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Worked solution
4(a)
1. Demonstrate that the function is not one-to-one by providing a counterexample.
Evaluate for two different values of , for instance and :
Since , there are distinct values of that map to the same value of . Therefore, is not a one-to-one function (it is a many-to-one function), and hence does not have an inverse.
is not a one-to-one function.
4(b)
1. Set $y = \mathrm{f}(x)$ and rearrange into a quadratic equation in $x$.
2. Solve for $x$ in terms of $y$ using the quadratic formula.
3. Determine the correct sign for the square root based on the restricted domain.
Since the domain is restricted to , we can verify which sign to take by substituting a value within the domain. Let's test , which gives .
Using the positive root: (Reject, since ).
Using the negative root: (Accept).
Therefore, we must take the negative root:
4. Find the range of $\mathrm{f}$ for the restricted domain to state the domain of $\mathrm{f}^{-1}$.
To find the range of for :
For , , so . Thus, is strictly decreasing.
At , .
As , .
Thus, the range of is .
(Alternatively, since is real, the discriminant . Since , , so .)
5. State the final expression for the inverse function and its domain.
Domain:
, for
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