reciprocal and inverse

[joham]

In an article about math anxiety, in the sentence 'You probably learned about reciprocals and inverses', the two words 'reciprocals and inverses' mean the same thing, don't they? (since we can say the reciprocal/ inverse of 7 is 1/7)

Thank you in advance.

 

[Coolfootluke]

In an article about math anxiety, in the sentence 'You probably learned about reciprocals and inverses', the two words 'reciprocals and inverses' mean the same thing, don't they? (since we can say the reciprocal/ inverse of 7 is 1/7)

Thank you in advance.

I am not a teacher.

You are probably right, but "inverse" has other meanings in mathematics than just "reciprocal". A reciprocal is a multiplicative inverse, but I didn't know that until I looked it up just now, and I suspect the writer didn't, either. In common parlance, a reciprocal and an inverse are the same thing.