An inverse is a mathematical operation that undoes or reverses the effect of another operation. It is commonly used in algebra and functions.
To provide an example of an inverse, let's consider the operation of addition. The inverse of addition is subtraction.
For instance, if we have the equation:
x + 5 = 10
To find the value of x, we can use the inverse operation of addition, which is subtraction. By subtracting 5 from both sides of the equation, we undo the effect of the initial addition:
x + 5 - 5 = 10 - 5
This simplifies to:
x = 5
In this example, the inverse operation of subtraction undid the addition operation, allowing us to find the value of x.
In general, an inverse operation "undoes" the effect of the initial operation, bringing us back to the original starting point. Other examples of inverse operations include multiplication and division, exponentiation and logarithms, and differentiation and integration.