Multiplicative inverse
Multiplicative inverse
Multiplicative inverse or reciprocal for a number
Multiplicative inverse of a fraction
The multiplicative inverse of a fraction a/b is b/a. For the multiplicative inverse of a real number, divide 1 by the number. For example, the reciprocal of 5 is one fifth (1/5 or 0.2), and the reciprocal of 0.25 is 1 divided by 0.25, or 4. The reciprocal function, the function f(x) that maps x to 1/x, is one of the simplest examples of a function which is its own inverse (an involution).
In the phrase multiplicative inverse, the qualifier multiplicative is often omitted and then tacitly understood (in contrast to the additive inverse). Multiplicative inverses can be defined over many mathematical domains as well as numbers. In these cases it can happen that ab ≠ ba; then "inverse" typically implies that an element is both a left and right inverse.
Multiplicative inverse of trigonometric function
The notation f −1 is sometimes also used for the inverse function of the function f, which is not in general equal to the multiplicative inverse. For example, the multiplicative inverse 1/(sin x) = (sin x)−1 is the cosecant of x, and not the inverse sine of x denoted by sin−1 x or arcsin x. Only for linear maps are they strongly related.
Video: Multiplicative inverse
Examples and counterexamples
Reciprocal for zero
In the real numbers, zero does not have a reciprocal because .....
