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FUNCTIONS

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22 views42 pages

FUNCTIONS

function

Uploaded by

menelausyuks
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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FUNCTIONS

What Is a Function?
In nearly every physical phenomenon we observe that one
quantity depends on another. For example, your height depends
on your age, the temperature depends on the date, the cost of
mailing a package depends on its weight. We use the term
function to describe this dependence of one quantity on another.
That is, we say the following:
■ Height is a function of age.
■ Temperature is a function of date.
■ Cost of mailing a package is a function of weight
Here are some more examples:

■ The area of a circle is a function of its radius.


■ The number of bacteria in a culture is a function of time.
■ The weight of an astronaut is a function of her elevation.
■ The price of a commodity is a function of the demand for that
commodity.
The symbol is read “f of x” or “f at x” and is called the value of f at
x. The set A is called the domain of the function. The range of f is
the set of all possible values of as x varies throughout the domain,
that is

The symbol that represents an arbitrary number in the domain of


a function f is called an independent variable. The symbol that
represents a number in the range of f is called a dependent
variable. So if we write y , then x is the independent variable and
y is the dependent variable.
It’s helpful to think of a function as a machine. If x is in the
domain of the function f, then when x enters the machine, it is
accepted as an input and the machine produces an output
according to the rule of the function. Thus, we can think of the
domain as the set of all possible inputs and the range as the set of
all possible outputs.

Example The Squaring Function

The squaring function assigns to each real number x its square x2.
It is defined by f(x) = x2.
(a) Evaluate f(3), f(-2),and 𝑓( 5).
(b) Find the domain and range of f.

Solution

(a) The values of f are found by substituting for x in f(x) = x2.

(b) The domain of f is the set of all real numbers. The range of f
consists of all values of f(x),that is, all numbers of the form x2.
Since x2 ≥ 0 for all real numbers x, we can see that the range of f
is
Example Evaluating a Function

Let f(x) = 3x2 + x - 5. Evaluate each function value.

Solution To evaluate f at a number, we substitute the number


for x in the definition of f
Example Evaluating a Function

Solution
The Domain of a Function
If the function is given by an algebraic expression and the domain
is not stated explicitly, then by convention the domain of the
function is the domain of the algebraic expression—that is, the
set of all real numbers for which the expression is defined as a
real number.

For example, consider the functions


The function f is not defined at x = 4, so its domain is
The function g is not defined for negative x, so its domain is
{x ∣ x ≥ 0}.

Example Finding Domains of Function

Find the domain of each function

Solution

(a) The function is not defined when the denominator is 0.


Since
we see that f is not defined when x = 0 or x = 1. Thus, the domain
of f is

The domain may also be written in interval notation as

(b)We can’t take the square root of a negative number, so we


must have 9 - x2 ≥ 0. we can solve this inequality to find that 3 ≤ x
≤ 3. Thus, the domain of g is
(c) We can’t take the square root of a negative number, and we
can’t divide by 0, so we must have t + 1 > 0, that is, t > - 1. So the
domain of h is

Four Ways to Represent a Function

To help us understand what a function is, we have used machine


and arrow diagrams. We can describe a specific function in the
following four ways:
■ verbally (by a description in words)
■ algebraically (by an explicit formula)
■ visually (by a graph)
■ numerically (by a table of values)
Graphs of Functions

A function f of the form f(x) = mx + b is called a linear function


because its graph is the graph of the equation y = mx + b, which
represents a line with slope m and y-intercept b.
A special case of a linear function occurs when the slope is m = 0.
The function f(x) = b ,where b is a given number, is called a
constant function because all its values are the same number,
namely, b.
Example Graphing Function

Sketch the graphs of the following functions.

Solution We first make a table of values. Then we plot the


points given by the table and join them by a smooth curve
to obtain the graph.
Graphing Piecewise Defined Functions

Example Graph of a Piecewise Defined Function

Sketch the graph of the function.


Example Graph of the Absolute Value Function
Solution Recall that

We note that the graph of f coincides with the line y = x to the


right of the y-axis and coincides with the line y = - x to the left of
the y-axis.
The Vertical Line Test

If each vertical line x = a intersects a curve only once at (a, b),


then exactly one functional value is defined by f(a) = b. But if a
line x = a , intersects the curve twice, at (a, b) and at (a, c), then
the curve can’t represent a function because a function cannot
assign two different values to a.
Example Using the Vertical Line Test

Determine which of the following is a function.


Even and Odd Functions

If a function f satisfies f(-x) = f(x) for


every number x in its domain, then f
is called an even function. The
graph of an even function is
symmetric with respect to the y-
axis.

If f satisfies f(-x) = -f(x) for every


number x in its domain, then f is
called an odd function. The graph of
an odd function is symmetric about
the origin.
Example Even and Odd Functions

Determine whether the functions are even, odd, or neither even


nor odd.

Solution
Combining Functions
Sums, Differences, Products, and Quotient

Two functions f and g can be combined to form new functions


f + g, f – g, fg and f/g.
Example Combinations of Functions and Their Domains

Solution
Composition of Functions
Solution
One-to-One Functions and Their Inverses
Example Deciding whether a Function Is One-to-One

Is the function f(x) = x3 one-to-one?


Example Deciding whether a Function Is One-to-One

Is the function f(x) = x2 one-to-one?


The Inverse of a Function
Example Finding the Inverse of a Function

Find the inverse of the function f(x) = 3x - 2.


Example Finding the Inverse of a Function
Reference: Stewart et al. (2005). Precalculus: Mathematics for calculus. Cengage Learning.

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