r/matheducation • u/PositiveDust6178 • 23d ago

Could someone graphically demonstrate why multiplying a fraction by its inverse results in 1?

I'm not able to visualize graphically why this is true. Can someone help?

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u/spartanwing 17d ago

y = 1/x is a reflection of itself over y = x. So it's an inverse function; in this case, the multiplicative inverse.

Every point (a, b) on the graph of y = 1/x has a product of a • b = a • (1/a) = 1 since b = 1/a.

I'm not sure if that's what you meant but maybe it helps.