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What Exactly Is A Function

The document defines a function as an equation where each input is mapped to exactly one output. It provides examples of determining if equations represent functions. It also introduces function notation as a way to write the output value more concisely. Key concepts covered include evaluating functions by substituting inputs, finding roots of functions where the output is zero, and defining the domain as valid inputs and range as possible outputs. It concludes by introducing function composition as evaluating one function with the output of another.

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Pops Maellard
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
26 views

What Exactly Is A Function

The document defines a function as an equation where each input is mapped to exactly one output. It provides examples of determining if equations represent functions. It also introduces function notation as a way to write the output value more concisely. Key concepts covered include evaluating functions by substituting inputs, finding roots of functions where the output is zero, and defining the domain as valid inputs and range as possible outputs. It concludes by introducing function composition as evaluating one function with the output of another.

Uploaded by

Pops Maellard
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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what exactly is a function?

The simplest definition is an equation will be a


function if, for any x� in the domain of the equation (the domain is all
the x�’s that can be plugged into the equation), the equation will yield exactly
one value of y� when we evaluate the equation at a specific x�.

This is usually easier to understand with an example.

Example 1 Determine if each of the following are functions.

1. y=x2+1�=�2+1
2. y2=x+1�2=�+1

Show All Solutions Hide All Solutions


a y=x2+1�=�2+1 Show Solution 
b y2=x+1�2=�+1 Show Solution 

Next, we need to take a quick look at function notation. Function notation is


nothing more than a fancy way of writing the y� in a function that will allow us
to simplify notation and some of our work a little.

Let’s take a look at the following function.

y=2x2−5x+3�=2�2−5�+3

Using function notation, we can write this as any of the following.

f(x)=2x2−5x+3h(x)=2x2−5x+3w(x)=2x2−5x+3g(x)=2x2−5x+3R(x)=2x2−5x+3y(x)
=2x2−5x+3⋮�(�)=2�2−5�+3ℎ(�)=2�2−5�+3�(�)=2�2−5�+3�(�)
=2�2−5�+3�(�)=2�2−5�+3�(�)=2�2−5�+3⋮

Recall that this is NOT a letter times x�, this is just a fancy way of writing y�.

So, why is this useful? Well let’s take the function above and let’s get the
value of the function at x=−3�=−3. Using function notation we represent the
value of the function at x=−3�=−3 as f(−3)�(−3). Function notation gives us
a nice compact way of representing function values.

Now, how do we actually evaluate the function? That’s really simple.


Everywhere we see an x� on the right side we will substitute whatever is in
the parenthesis on the left side. For our function this gives,
f(−3)=2(−3)2−5(−3)+3=2(9)+15+3=36�(−3)=2(−3)2−5(−3)+3=2(9)+15+3=36

Let’s take a look at some more function evaluation.

Example 2 Given f(x)=−x2+6x−11�(�)=−�2+6�−11 find each of the


following.

1. f(2)�(2)
2. f(−10)�(−10)
3. f(t)�(�)
4. f(t−3)�(�−3)
5. f(x−3)�(�−3)
6. f(4x−1)�(4�−1)

Show All Solutions Hide All Solutions


a f(2)�(2) Show Solution 
b f(−10)�(−10)Show Solution 
c f(t)�(�) Show Solution 
d f(t−3)�(�−3) Show Solution 
e f(x−3)�(�−3) Show Solution 
f f(4x−1)�(4�−1) Show Solution 

All throughout a calculus course we will be finding roots of functions. A root of


a function is nothing more than a number for which the function is zero. In
other words, finding the roots of a function, g(x)�(�), is equivalent to solving

g(x)=0�(�)=0
Example 3 Determine all the roots of f(t)=9t3−18t2+6t�(�)=9�3−18�2+6�
Show Solution 

This example had a couple of points other than finding roots of functions.

The first was to remind you of the quadratic formula. This won’t be the last
time that you’ll need it in this class.

The second was to get you used to seeing “messy” answers. In fact, the
answers in the above example are not really all that messy. However, most
students come out of an Algebra class very used to seeing only integers and
the occasional “nice” fraction as answers.
So, here is fair warning. In this class I often will intentionally make the
answers look “messy” just to get you out of the habit of always expecting
“nice” answers. In “real life” (whatever that is) the answer is rarely a simple
integer such as two. In most problems the answer will be a decimal that came
about from a messy fraction and/or an answer that involved radicals.

One of the more important ideas about functions is that of


the domain and range of a function. In simplest terms the domain of a
function is the set of all values that can be plugged into a function and have
the function exist and have a real number for a value. So, for the domain we
need to avoid division by zero, square roots of negative numbers, logarithms
of zero and logarithms of negative numbers (if not familiar with logarithms
we’ll take a look at them a little later), etc. The range of a function is simply
the set of all possible values that a function can take.

Let’s find the domain and range of a few functions.

Example 4 Find the domain and range of each of the following functions.

1. f(x)=5x−3�(�)=5�−3
2. g(t)=√ 4−7t �(�)=4−7�
3. h(x)=−2x2+12x+5ℎ(�)=−2�2+12�+5
4. f(z)=|z−6|−3�(�)=|�−6|−3
5. g(x)=8�(�)=8

Show All Solutions Hide All Solutions


a f(x)=5x−3�(�)=5�−3 Show Solution 
b g(t)=√ 4−7t �(�)=4−7� Show Solution 
c h(x)=−2x2+12x+5ℎ(�)=−2�2+12�+5 Show Solution 
d f(z)=|z−6|−3�(�)=|�−6|−3 Show Solution 
e g(x)=8�(�)=8 Show Solution 

In general, determining the range of a function can be somewhat difficult. As


long as we restrict ourselves down to “simple” functions, some of which we
looked at in the previous example, finding the range is not too bad, but for
most functions it can be a difficult process.

Because of the difficulty in finding the range for a lot of functions we had to
keep those in the previous set somewhat simple, which also meant that we
couldn’t really look at some of the more complicated domain examples that
are liable to be important in a Calculus course. So, let’s take a look at another
set of functions only this time we’ll just look for the domain.

Example 5 Find the domain of each of the following functions.

1. f(x)=x−4x2−2x−15�(�)=�−4�2−2�−15
2. g(t)=√ 6+t−t2 �(�)=6+�−�2
3. h(x)=x√ x2−9 ℎ(�)=��2−9

a f(x)=x−4x2−2x−15�(�)=�−4�2−2�−15 
b g(t)=√ 6+t−t2 �(�)=6+�−�2 
c h(x)=x√ x2−9 ℎ(�)=��2−9 

The next topic that we need to discuss here is that of function composition.
The composition of f(x)�(�) and g(x)�(�) is

(f∘g)(x)=f(g(x))(�∘�)(�)=�(�(�))

In other words, compositions are evaluated by plugging the second function


listed into the first function listed. Note as well that order is important here.
Interchanging the order will more often than not result in a different answer.

Example
6 Given f(x)=3x2−x+10�(�)=3�2−�+10 and g(x)=1−20x�(�)=1−20� find
each of the following.

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