The Derivative Rule for Inverses:

If 𝑓 has an interval I as domain and 𝑓′(𝑥) exists and is not equal to zero on I, then 𝑓 −1 (𝑥) is
differentiable at every point in its domain (the range of 𝑓).

The value of (𝑓 −1 (𝑥))′at a point b in the domain of 𝑓 −1 (𝑥) is the reciprocal of the value of
𝑓′(𝑥) at the point 𝑎 = 𝑓 −1 (𝑏)

1
(𝑓 −1 (𝑥))′ (𝑏) =
𝑓′(𝑓 −1 (𝑏))

In other representation:

𝒅𝒇−𝟏 (𝒙) 𝟏
| =
𝒅𝒙 𝒅𝒇
𝒙=𝒃 |
𝒅𝒙 𝒙=𝒇−𝟏 (𝒃)

Proof:

Inverse function: 𝑓(𝑓 −1 (𝑥)) = 𝑥

𝑑
Taking derivative of both the sides: 𝑑𝑥 𝑓(𝑓 −1 (𝑥)) = 1
𝑑
Chain rule of differentiation: 𝑓 ′ (𝑓 −1 (𝑥)) × 𝑑𝑥 𝑓 −1 (𝑥) = 1

𝒅𝒇−𝟏 (𝒙) 𝟏
= ′ −𝟏
𝒅𝒙 𝒇 (𝒇 (𝒙))
Example:

If f is a one-to-one function with 𝑓(3) = 9 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓 ′ (3) = 7, what is the

value of (𝑓 −1 )′ (9) ?

Solution:

𝑑𝑓 −1 (9) 1 1 𝟏
= ′ −1 = =
𝑑𝑥 𝑓 (𝑓 (9)) 𝑓′(3) 𝟕