1.

Functions and Models

Who? Calculus and Vector Analysis I

From? Prof. Sehun Chun

Underwood International College, Yonsei University

When? Spring Semester 2024

 Four Ways to Represent a Function

Function arise whenever one quantity depends on

another. Consider the following four situations.
A The area A of a circle depends on the radius r of the
circle. The rule that connects r and A is given by the
equation A = πr 2 . With each positive number r there is
associated one value of A, and we say that A is a
function of r .
 Four Ways to Represent a Function

B The human population of

the world P depends on the
time t. The table gives
estimates of the world
population P(t) at time t,
for certain years. For
instance,

P(1950) ≈ 2, 560, 000, 000

But for each value of the

time t, there is a
corresponding value of P,
and we say that P is a
function of t.
 Four Ways to Represent a Function

C The cost C of mailing a large envelope depends on the

weight w of the envelope. Although there is no simple
formula that connects w and C , the post office has a
rule for determining C when w is known.
 Four Ways to Represent a Function

D The vertical acceleration a of the ground as measured

by a seismograph during an earthquake is a function of
the elapsed time t.
Figure shows a graph generated by seismic activity
during the Northridge earthquake that shook Los
Angeles in 1994. For a given value of t, the graph
provides a corresponding value of a.
 Four Ways to Represent a Function

Definition A function f is a rule that assigns to each element x in

a set D exactly one element, called f (x), in a set E .
The set D is called the domain, the collection of the
elements x.
The number f (x) is the value of f at x and is read ”f
of x”.
The range of f is the set of all possible values of f (x)
as x varies throughout the domain.
A symbol that represents an arbitrary number in the
domain is called an independent variable.
A symbol that represents a number in the range of f is
called a dependent variable.
Four Ways to Represent a Function

In Example A, for instance, r is the independent variable

and A 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’s accepted as an input and the
machine produces an output f (x) 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.
Four Ways to Represent a Function

Another way to picture a function is by an arrow

diagram as in Figure.

Each arrow connects an element of D to an element of

E . The arrow indicates that f (x) is associated with x,
f (a) is associated with a, and so on.
Four Ways to Represent a Function

The most common method for visualizing a function is

its graph. If f is a function with domain D, then its
graph is the set of ordered pairs

{(x, f (x))|x ∈ D}

In other words, the graph of f consists of all points

(x, y ) in the coordinate plane such that y = f (x) and x
is in the domain of f .
The graph of a function f gives us a useful picture of the
behavior or life history of a function.
Four Ways to Represent a Function

Since the y-coordinate of any point (x, y ) on the graph

is y = f (x), we can read the value of f (x) from the
graph as being the height of the graph above the point
x in Figure (left).
The graph of f also allows us to picture the domain of f
on the x-axis and its range on the y -axis as in Figure
(right).
 Example 1

The graph of a function f is shown below

1 Find the value of f (1) and f (5).
2 What are the domain and range of f ?
 Vertical Test

The graph of a function is a curve in the xy -plane. But

the question arises: Which curves in the xy -plane are
graphs of functions? This is answered by the following
test.
The Vertical A curve in the xy -plane is the graph of a function of x if
Line Test and only if no vertical line intersects the curve more
than once.
Vertical Test

For example, the parabola x = y 2 − 2 is not the graph

of a function of x because, as you can see, there are
vertical lines that intersect the parabola twice. The
parabola, however, does contain the graphs of two
functions of x.

= +
Symmetry
If a function f satisfies f (−x) = f (x) for every number x
in its domain, then f is called an even function. For
instance, the function f (x) = x 2 is even because

f (−x) = (−x)2 = x 2 = f (x).

If f satisfies f (−x) = −f (x) for every number x in its

domain, then f is called an odd function. For example,
the function f (x) = x 3 is odd because

f (−x) = (−x)3 = −x 3 = −f (x).

Examples of function 1: Polynomial
A function P is called a polynomial if

P(x) = an x n + an−1 x n−1 + · · · a2 x 2 + a1 x + a0 ,

where a0 , a1 , · · · , an are called the coefficients of the

polynomial and n is called degree of the polynomial.

A polynomial of degree 1 is of the form P(x) = mx + b

and so it is a linear function.

A polynomial of degree 2 is of the form

P(x) = ax 2 + bx + c and is called a quadratic function.
Examples of function 2: Power Functions

A function of the form f (x) = x a , where a is a constant,

is called a power function.

If a = 1/n, where n is a positive integer, the function

√
f (x) = x 1/n = n x is a root function (left). If a = −1,
then it is called the reciprocal function
f (x) = x −1 = 1/x (right)
 Examples of function 3: Rational Functions
A rational function f is a ratio of two polynomials:

P(x)
f (x) = ,
Q(x)

where P(x) and Q(x) are polynomials. The domain

consists of all values of x such that Q(x) ̸= 0. For
example,
2x 4 −x 2 +1
* Rational Ex) f (x) = x 2 −4
with domain {x|x ̸= ±2}.
function
Examples of function 4: Algebraic
Functions

A function f is called an algebraic function if it can be

constructed using algebraic operations (such as addition,
subtraction, multiplication, division, and taking roots)
starting with polynomials. Any rational function is
automatically an algebraic function. For example,
p x 4 − 16x 2 √
f (x) = x 2 + 1, g (x) = √ + (x − 2)3 x + 1
x+ x
Examples of function 5: Trigonometric
Functions

In calculus the convention is that radian measure is

always used (except when otherwise indicated).

For example, when we use the function f (x) = sin x, it

is understood that sin x means the sine of the angle
whose radian measure is x.
Examples of function 6: Exponential
Functions

The exponential functions are the functions of the form

f (x) = ax , where the base a is a positive constant.

The graphs of y = 2x and y = (0.5)x are shown in

Figure below.
Examples of function 6: Logarithmic
Functions

The logarithmic functions f (x) = loga x, where the base

a is a positive constant, are the inverse functions of the
exponential functions.

Figure shows the graphs of four logarithmic functions

with various bases.
 Example 5

Classify the following functions as one of the types of

functions that we have discussed.
1 f (x) = 5x
2 g (x) = x 5
1+x
3 h(x) = √ .
1− x
4 u(t) = 1 − t + 5t 4
 Combination of functions

1 Two function f and g can be combined to form new

functions f + g , f − g , fg , and f /g .
2 Another way is called composition. Given any two
functions f and g , we start with a number x in the
domain of g and find its image g (x). If this number
g (x) is in the domain of f , then we can calculate the
value of f (g (x)), which is denoted by f ◦ g .
3 The domain of f ◦ g is the set of all x in the domain of
g such that g (x) in the domain of f .
Example 6

If f (x) = x 2 and g (x) = x − 3, find the composite

functions f ◦ g and g ◦ f .
Exponential Function
An exponential function is a function of the form

f (x) = ax ,

where a is a positive constant. Let’s recall what this

means. If x = n, a positive integer, then

an = a · a · · · a

The graphs of members of the family of functions

y = ax are shown below.
 Exponential Function

Laws of
Exponents ax
1. ax+y = ax ay , 2. ax−y = , 3. (ax )y = axy , 4. (ab
ay

If we want the slope of the tangent line of y = ax at

(0, 1) is exactly 1, we choose a as

e ≈ 2.71828

we call the function f (x) = e x the natural exponential

function.
Example 4

Graph the function y = 0.5e −x − 1 and state the

domain and range.
One-to-One
Let’s compare the functions
f and g whose arrow
diagrams are shown in
Figure 1.

Note that f never takes on

the same value twice (any
two inputs in A have
different outputs), whereas
g does take on the same
value twice (both 2 and 3
have the same output.

A function f is called a one-to-one function if it never

takes on the same value twice such as

f (x1 ) ̸= f (x2 )
 Horizontal Line Test
If a horizontal line intersects the graph of f in more
than one point, then we see from Figure that there are
numbers x1 and x2 such that

f (x1 ) = f (x2 )

This means that f is not one-to-one.

Therefore we have the following geometric method for

determining whether a function is one-to-one.
Horizontal Line A function is one-to-one if and only if no horizontal line
Test intersects its graph more than once.
Example 1

Is the function f (x) = x 3 one-to-one?

 Inverse function
One-to-one functions are important because they are
precisely the functions that possess inverse functions
according to the following definition.
Definition Let f be a one-to-one function with domain A and
range B. Then its inverse function f −1 has domain B
and range A and is defined by

f −1 (y ) = x ⇐⇒ f (x) = y (1)

for any y in B.
This definition says that if f maps x into y , then f −1
maps y back into x. (If f were not one-to-one, then f −1
would not be uniquely defined.)
Inverse function

The arrow diagram in Figure indicates that f −1 reverses

the effect of f .
 Example 3

If f (1) = 5, f (3) = 7, and f (8) = −10, find

1 f −1 (7),
2 f −1 (5),
3 f −1 (10).
 Logarithmic functions

Definition The inverse function of the

exponential function
f (x) = ax is called the
logarithmic function with
base a.

loga x = y ⇐⇒ ay = x
 Logarithmic functions

Laws of
Logarithms
1. loga (xy ) = loga x + loga y ,
 
x
2. loga = loga x − loga y ,
y
3. loga (x r ) = r loga x for real number r .

The logarithm with base e is called the natural

logarithm and had a special notation

loga x = ln x
 Review 1

1 What is a function ? What are its domain and range?

2 How is the composite function f ◦ g defined? What is
its domain?
3 (TF) If f is a function, then f (s + t) = f (s) + f (t)?
4 (TF) If f (s) = f (t), then s = t ?
5 If f and g are functions, then f ◦ g = g ◦ f ?
6 If f is one-to-one, then f −1 (x) = 1
f (x) ?