Calculus Query

[Manoel]

Originally Posted by Rickertsen2

grr math things like this frusterate my simple mind. I am no math person and i don't entirely understand why my solution is wrong. Maybie i am just stubborn. Lets define the inverse of a function as a being a function where f(x)=y and f^-1(y)=x for all x. By this logic if f(0)=0 then shouldn't f^-1(0) be 0 as well and shouldn't my solution work?

Rickertsen2,

For a function to be invertible, it has to be bijective - "one on one" and "onto", that is, there's only one x value associated with a given y value, and that holds for every x. As an example, y = x^2 is not invertible, because for x = +- 2, y = 4. To think of it in another way, if you were to invert that function (rotate its graph about the line y = x), you'd get a function that, for one value of x, is defined for two y values. That is not a function.
For a quick test, draw an horizontal line in this graph and sweep it up and down. If it ever touches two points on the curve, then the function is not invertible.
You can see that your constant function does not meet the requisites for an invertible function.

A Google search will provide thousands of good sources for information, this site is a nice one, with a simple explanation and pictures (who doesn't like pictures? )
http://archives.math.utk.edu/visual....s/0/inverse.6/