Question

Explain a thought process you might use when trying to find the additive or multiplicative inverse of a number or expression

Answer 1

In mathematics, a multiplicative inverse or reciprocal for a number x, denoted by 1/x or x-1, is a number which when multiplied by x yields the multiplicative identity, 1. 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 self-inverse. ]