AcademyDifferentiation

Academy

Inverse Derivatives

Level 1 - Math I (Physics) topic page in Differentiation.

Inverse Derivatives

If \(y = f^{-1}(x)\), then \(f(y) = x\).

Differentiating implicitly:

Starting
\[f(y) = x\]
Differentiate
\[f'(y) \cdot \frac{dy}{dx} = 1\]
Result
\[\frac{dy}{dx} = \frac{1}{f'(y)} = \frac{1}{f'(f^{-1}(x))}\]

Example: \(\arcsin(x)\)

If \(y = \arcsin(x)\), then \(\sin(y) = x\)

Example
\[\cos(y) \cdot \frac{dy}{dx} = 1\]
Result
\[\frac{dy}{dx} = \frac{1}{\cos(y)} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{1 - \sin^2(y)}} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{1 - x^2}}\]

General Formula

General
\[\frac{d}{dx}[f^{-1}(x)] = \frac{1}{f'(f^{-1}(x))}\]