Final answer:
To find the inverse function g⁻¹, which calculates the number of folds needed to reach a certain thickness t, you would use the logarithm base 2. The inverse function g⁻¹ is given by g⁻¹(t) = log₂(t).
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks to write a function formula for g⁻¹, which is the inverse of the function g. The function g⁻¹ determines the number of folds needed to give the folded paper a thickness of t millimeters. To find the inverse, one would typically reverse the operations performed by the original function g.
The typical paper folding problem is that each fold doubles the thickness of the paper. So, if g(n) represents the thickness of the paper after n folds, the thickness is 2n times the original thickness. Hence, the inverse g⁻¹(t) would solve for n given a thickness t, such that t = 2n. This is done by taking the logarithm base 2 of t, which gives g⁻¹(t) = log₂(t).