document.write( "Question 126702: Hey again..\r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "I'm working on the section inverse relations and functions and have a question. Heres the problem.\r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Find the inverse of the function y=4x-7. Is the inverse a function? \r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "I found the inverse... its y=x+7/4 I just dont know if its a function or not? \r
\n" ); document.write( "\n" ); document.write( "Thank you for helping
\n" ); document.write( "

Algebra.Com's Answer #92840 by bucky(2189)\"\" \"About 
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Check your answer again.
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "You are given the function:
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "y = 4x - 7
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "To find the inverse of this, replace y with x and x with y to get:
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "x = 4y - 7
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "Solve this for y. Begin by transposing the equation (just swapping sides to get the term
\n" ); document.write( "containing y on the left side). After transposing, the equation is:
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "4y - 7 = x
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "Get rid of the -7 on the left side by adding 7 to both sides to get:
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "4y = x + 7
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "Then solve for y by dividing both sides of this equation by 4 to get:
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "y = (1/4)x + 7/4
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "This is the inverse of the function y = 4x - 7.
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "That may have been the answer you got. If so you should have written it as:
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "y = (x + 7)/4
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "so that it was clear that both terms, the x and the 7, were to be divided by 4. According to
\n" ); document.write( "the rules of algebra, the way you wrote the answer, only the 7 was divided by 4 and x was then
\n" ); document.write( "added to the result of that division so that the answer was x + (7/4).
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "Now, how do you tell whether or not that the inverse is a function? Look at the answer:
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "y = (1/4)x + (7/4)
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "This is in the form of a slope intercept equation ... the slope is (1/4) and the y-intercept
\n" ); document.write( "is at +7/4 on the y-axis. The graph is a straight line. ... And the graph looks like this:
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "\"graph%28400%2C400%2C-15%2C15%2C+-15%2C15%2C%281%2F4%29%2Ax+%2B+%287%2F4%29%29\"
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "One way to tell if this is a function is if you can draw a vertical line anywhere on
\n" ); document.write( "the graph and it only intersects the graphed line at a maximum of one point, the graphed line
\n" ); document.write( "represents a function. On the graph shown above, anywhere you draw a vertical line it will cross the
\n" ); document.write( "graphed line only at one point, so you have a function. If somewhere on the graph a
\n" ); document.write( "vertical line could cross the graphed line at more than one point, then the graph would
\n" ); document.write( "not represent a function.
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "So the answer to your problem is yes ... the inverse is a function.
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "Hope this helps you to understand one way of determining whether an expression represents
\n" ); document.write( "a function.
\n" ); document.write( ".
\n" ); document.write( "
\n" );