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Inverse functions

Problem 13.452 · medium

Find the inverse of \( \displaystyle f(x) = e^{4 x} + 4 \).
  1. Write y = f(x) and solve for x. Isolate the exponential, then take the natural log. Then rename y as x.
  2. \[ \left. e^{4 x} + 4 \right|_{\substack{ x=\frac{\ln{\left(x - 4 \right)}}{4} }} = x \]
    f(f⁻¹(x)) = x, so this is the inverse.✓ Proved
  3. \[ \left. \frac{\ln{\left(x - 4 \right)}}{4} \right|_{\substack{ x=\left. e^{4 x} + 4 \right|_{\substack{ x=2 }} }} = 2 \]
    And f⁻¹(f(2)) = 2.✓ Proved
Answer \( f^{-1}(x) = \frac{\ln{\left(x - 4 \right)}}{4} \)

Lines: 2 proved, 1 not checked. The answer was also checked a second way, without looking at the solution. Reviewers found nothing wrong with the explanation. How we verify

The full receipt
LineStatusChecked byDetail
1Not checked—a sentence; read, not computed
2✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0
3✓ Provedsympy 1.14.0simplify(lhs - rhs) reduced to 0
answer, a second way✓ Checked independentlysympy 1.14.0 + mpmath 1.3.0f then the answer, in floating point, returns the starting x

Reviewers

  • gpt-oss:20b: pass
  • qwen3.6:27b-mlx: fail (style) — [domain objection, downgraded to style] The solution fails to state the domain of the inverse function (x > 4), which is required for the natural logarithm to be defined. Additionally, verifying the inverse with a single point (x=2) is insufficient to prove correctness, though the algebraic derivation in step 1 is correct.
Every verdict on record (6)
  • qwen3.6:27b-mlx: fail (style) 2026-10-30 — [domain objection, downgraded to style] The solution fails to state the domain of the inverse function (x > 4), which is required for the natural logarithm to be defined. Additionally, verifying the inverse with a single point (x=2) is insufficient to prove correctness, though the algebraic derivation in step 1 is correct.
  • gpt-oss:20b: pass 2026-10-30
  • qwen3.6:27b-mlx: fail (style) 2026-10-29 — [domain objection, downgraded to style] The solution omits the domain restriction x > 4, which is required for the inverse to be well-defined. Additionally, the verification steps only check specific points rather than proving the inverse relationship generally.
  • gpt-oss:20b: pass 2026-10-29
  • qwen3.6:27b-mlx: pass 2026-10-29 — The solution correctly describes the standard method for finding an inverse function and verifies the result using composition.
  • gpt-oss:20b: pass 2026-10-29

Proved: SymPy reduced the difference between the two sides to zero. Checked independently: a separate method, named above, confirmed it. Checked numerically: the two sides agree at every sampled point, which is evidence, not proof. Reviewed: a model or a person read it; that is all a sentence can have. Solution by generator:structured/inverse_function, checked 2026-10-30 with SymPy 1.14.0.