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3.3 Differentiating Inverse Functions

1 min readjune 7, 2020

Jillian Holbrook

Jillian Holbrook

Jillian Holbrook

Jillian Holbrook


AP Calculus AB/BC ♾️

279 resources
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What are Inverse Functions?

Inverse functions essentially “reverse” what the original function did. You likely encountered Inverse Functions in Algebra II and/or Pre-Calculus when reflecting a function along y = x.
We denote functions as f(x) and their inverses as f^-1(x).
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Image Courtesy of Giphy

Confused? Don't worry! We'll break it down.

How to Differentiate Inverse Functions

Calculating the derivative of an Inverse function isn’t really much more difficult than deriving normal functions - it simply requires knowing the formula:
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Let’s look at an example problem to clarify!
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Differentiating Inverse Functions Practice

With some quality practice, Inverse Functions will be a piece of cake! Give the ones below a try.
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Answers

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👑Unit 1 – Limits & Continuity
🤓Unit 2 – Fundamentals of Differentiation
👀Unit 4 – Contextual Applications of Differentiation
Unit 5 – Analytical Applications of Differentiation
🔥Unit 6 – Integration & Accumulation of Change
💎Unit 7 – Differential Equations
🐶Unit 8 – Applications of Integration
🦖Unit 9 – Parametric Equations, Polar Coordinates, & Vector-Valued Functions (BC Only)
Unit 10 – Infinite Sequences & Series (BC Only)
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