Functions Questions with Solution

Here are given a few solved questions which will help students

1. Which of the following relations are functions? Give reasons and also find the domain
and range of the function.

(i) f = {(1, 3), (1, 5), (2, 3), (2, 5)}

(ii) g = {(2, 1), (5, 1), (8, 1), (11, 1)}

Solution: (i) f = {(1, 3), (1, 5), (2, 3), (2, 5)}

Here, the elements 1 and 2 have more than one f-images, namely 3 and 5.

Hence, f is not a function.

(ii) g = {(2, 1), (5, 1), (8, 1), (11, 1)}

Here, each first element of the ordered pair has a unique image which is the second coordinate.

Hence, g is a function.

Domain of g = {2, 5, 8, 11} and range of g = {1}

2. Let A = {1, 2} and B = {3, 6} and f and g be functions from A to B, defined by f(x) = 3x
and g(x) = x2 + 2. Show that f = g.

Solution: Since both f and g are defined from set A.

Therefore, dom(f) = dom(g)

Now, for the co-domain of f

f(1) = 3. 1 = 3

f(2) = 3. 2 = 6

Co-domain of f ={3, 6}

And the co-domain of g

g(1) = 12 + 2 = 3

g(2) = 22 + 2 = 6
Co-domain of g ={3, 6}

Co-domain of f = Co-domain of g

Also for each x ∈ A, f(x) = g(x)

Hence, f = g.

Two functions f and g are said to be equal functions if

 both functions are defined on the same domain

 both the functions have the same co-domain and range
 for every element in their domain, both functions have the same image

3. Let f: R →R : f(x) = x2 + 1. Find f-1(10).

Solution: Let f-1(10) = x.

⇒ f(x) = 10

⇒ x2 + 1 = 10

⇒ x = ±3

Therefore, f-1(10) = {-3, 3}

The inverse of a Function

Let f: X → Y be a function and let for any x in X, f(x) = y ∈ Y. Then the inverse of f is
defined by f-1(y) = {x ∈ X: f(x) = y}.

4. Find the domain and the range of the real function, f(x) = 1/(x + 3).

Solution: We have f(x) = 1/(x + 3)

Clearly, f is not defined for x = -3

Therefore, dom(f) = R – {-3}

Let y = f(x). Then,

y = 1/(x + 3) ⇒ x = (1/y) – 3 …….(i)

Clearly, (i) is not defined for y = 0

Therefore, range(f) = R – {0}

5. Let f: N → N: f(x) = 2x for all x in N. Check whether f is a bijection.

Solution: To prove f(x) is a bijection, we need to prove that f is one-one as well as onto.

f is one-one:

Let x1, x2 be any arbitrary element in N

f(x1) = f(x2) ⇒ 2x1 = 2x2 ⇒ x1 = x2

Therefore f is one-one

f is onto:

Let f(x) = y in co-domain of f

Then, 2x = y ⇒ x = y/2

For every y in N, y/2 ∉ N

Therefore, f is not onto

Hence, f is not a bijection.

Composition of Functions

Let f: A → B and g: B → C be two given functions. Then, the composition of f and g is

represented by g o f which is the function, defined by

(g o f): f: A → C: (g o f)(x) = g{f (x)} for every x in A

6. Let R be the set of all real numbers. Let f: R →R : f(x) = cos x and let g: R →R : g(x) =
3x2. Show that (g o f) ≠ (f o g).

Solution: Let x be an arbitrary real number. Then,

(g o f)(x) = g{f(x)} = g{ cos x} = 3 cos2 x

(f o g)(x) = f{g(x)} = f{3x2} = cos 3x2

Clearly, (g o f) ≠ (f o g).

Also Read:
  Composition Functions
 Functions and their Graphs
 Inverse Functions

7. Let f: R →R: f(x) = 4x + 3 for all x ∈ R. Show that f is invertible and find f -1.

Solution: Let x1, x2 be in R

f(x1) = f(x2) ⇒ 4x1 + 3 = 4x2 + 3 ⇒ x1 = x2

Therefore, f is one-one.

Let f(x) = y in co-domain R of f. Then,

∃ x = (y – 3)/4 in R, for every y in co-domain R of f

Therefore, f is onto

⇒ f is bijection

⇒ f-1 exists

Now, f(x) = y ⇒ f-1(y) = x = (y – 3)/4

Thus inverse of f is defined by

f-1: R → R: f-1(y) = (y – 3)/4 for all y in R

A function f is invertible (inverse of f exists) if and only if f is a bijection.

8. Let f: R →R: f(x) = x2 and g: R →R: g(x) = 2x + 1. Find (f + g)(x).

Solution: Here, dom(f) = R = dom(g)

Therefore, dom(f) ∩ dom(g) = R

Then, (f + g)(x) = f(x) + g(x) = x2 + 2x + 1

9. Let f(x) = √x and g(x) = x be two functions defined over the set of non-negative real
numbers. Find (f/g)(x).

Solution: Both functions are defined on the domain of non-zero real numbers.

Then, dom(f/g) = dom(f) ∩ dom(g) – {x: g(x) = 0} = [0, ∞) ∩ [0, ∞) – {0} = (0, ∞)

So, (f/g)(x): (0, ∞) → R is given by

(f/g)(x) = f(x)/g(x) = √x/x = 1/√x ; x is not equal to zero.

10. Let A = {2, 3, 4, 5} and B = {7, 9, 11, 13} and let f = {(2, 7), (3, 9), (4, 11), (5, 13)}. Show
that f is invertible and find f-1.

Solution: We have f is a function such that f: A → B: f(x) = {(2, 7), (3, 9), (4, 11), (5, 13)}.

Clearly, each element in the co-domain set has a unique pre-image in the domain set. Therefore,
f is one-one.

Now, range(f) = co-domain(f)

⇒ f is onto

⇒ f is a bijection

⇒ f is invertible

Hence, f-1 = {(7, 2), (9, 3), (11, 4), (13, 5)}

Practice Questions

1. Let f: N → Y: f(x) = 4x2 + 12x + 15. Show that f is invertible and find f-1.

2. Find the domain and range of function f defined by f(x) = x2 + 1

3. Find the domain and range of the function f(x) = (x2 +1)/(x2 – 1).

4. Let f: Z → Z: f(x) = x2 and g: Z → Z: g(x) = |x|2 for all x in Z. Show that f = g

5. Show that f: R – {0} → R – {0}: f(x) = 1/x is a bijection.

1. Which of the following relations are functions?
Give reasons.

(a) R₁ = {(1, 7) (2, 7) (4, 7) (6, 7)}

(b) R₂ = {(1, 2) (1, 3) (1, 4) (1, 5)}

(c) R₃ = {(x, y) (y, z) (z, t) (t, v)}

2. Which of the following arrow diagram represents functions?

3. Let A = {3, 5, 7} and B {1, 2, 3, 4}.

Find if R = {(3, 2) (5, 4) (7, 4)1 is a mapping from A to B.

4. If A = {a, b, c, d} B = {e, f, g}

Is R = {(a, e) (a, f) (a, g) (b, e) (b, f) (b, g) (c, e) (c, f) (d, g)} a function from A to B.

Give reasons to support your answer.

5. If x, y∈{0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

Then, which of the following are function in the given set?

 (a) f₁ = {(x, y) : y = x - 1}

(b) f₂ = {(x, y) : x + y < 3}

(c) f₃ = {(x, y) : x > y}

(d) f₄ = {(x, y) : x + y = 4}

6. Let A = {-3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3} and B = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}.

Consider the rule f(x) = x².

Find domains (f) and range (f).

7. Given f(x) = 3x – 1. Find:

(i) f(-2) (ii) f(5) (iii) f(0)

8. Let f(x) = x² + 1, x∈R, find,

(a) f(2) - f(1)

(b) f(1) - f(0)

(c) f(-2) - f(-3)

9. Let f(x) = ((4x – 3))/((5x + 1)) , x ∈ R. Find:

(a) f(-1) (b) f(1) (c) f(-1) + f(1)

10. If f(x) = 5x + 3, x∈R.

If f(x) = 13, find the value of x.

11. A function f : R → R is defined by f(x) = x³.

Determine range of f.

12. What is difference between relation and a function? Is every relation a function? Why?

13. Let A = {-1, 0, 1, 2} and B = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}.

Consider a rule f(x) = x².

Find the domain (f) and range (f).

14. Let A = {1, -1, 2, -2, 3, -3} and B = {1, 4, 9}.

Consider the rule f(x) = x², where x∈A.

Draw the arrow diagram to represent the rule f(x) = x² from A to B. Also, find domain and range
of mapping.

Answers for practice test on function or mapping are given below to check the exact answers of
the questions.

Answers:

1. (c), every element in the domain has unique image in the range.

2. (b), (e), (f)

3. Yes

4. No, first component is repeated

5. None

6. Domain = {-3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3} Range = {0, 1, 4, 9}

7. (i) -7
(ii) 14
(iii) -1

8. (a) 3
(b) 1
(c) -5

9. (a) 7/4
(b) 1/6
(c) 22/12

10. 2

11. (a) {8}

(b) {-1}

13. Domain = (-1, 0, 1, 21} Range = {1, 0, 4}

14.

Domain = {1, -1, 2, -2, 3, -3} Range = {1, 4, 9}

Interpreting Functions
1. The function f is defined as f(x)= √x-3. Its domain is x ≥ 3, and its range is f(x) ≥ 0. Which of the following is
true of f?

1. If x ≥ 3, then f(x) ≥ 0.
2. It assigns exactly one value to every positive value of x.
3. The range of the function is f(3).
4. The value of f(3) is undefined.

2. If g(x) = 3x + x + 5, evaluate g(2).

1. g(2) = 8
2. g(2) = 9
3. g(2) = 13
4. g(2) = 17

3. The function S(r) =4 rπ2 gives the surface area of a sphere of radius r. What is the surface area of a sphere
of radius 4?

1. 8π
2. 16π
3. 32π
4. 64 π

Building Functions
4. A theater will sell 500 tickets to a play if it charges $10 per ticket. Furthermore, every time it raises the
price by one dollar, it will sell 50 fewer tickets because some people will think it too expensive. Which of the
following functions t(d) represents the number of tickets the theater will sell if it charges d dollars per ticket?

1. t(d) = 50d + 10
2. t(d) = 50d + 1000
3. t(d) = 50d
4. t(d) = 50d + 10

5. A taxi ride costs $4.25 for the first mile and $0.70 for each mile after the first. Which of the following
functions c(d) gives the total cost (in dollars) of traveling d miles (assuming that d ≥ 1)?

1. c(d) = 3.55 + 0.70d

2. c(d) = 3.55 + 0.70(d – 1)
3. c(d) = 4.25 + 0.70d
4. c(d) = 4.25 + 0.70(d – 1)

Linear, Quadratic, and Exponential Models

6. Exponential functions grow by equal factors over equal intervals. By what factor does the exponential
function f(x)=3-2x grow by over every interval whose length is 3?
 1. By a factor of 6
2. By a factor of 8
3. By a factor of 18
4. By a factor of 24

7. A linear function can be used to convert a temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius. For example, you can
use it to convert 32oF to 0o C and 68o F to 20oC. Use this information to convert 104o F to Celsius.

1. 25o C
2. 30o C
3. 40 oC
4. 50o C

Trigonometric Functions
8. In the figure below, circle O is a unit circle, and the measure of ∠ AOB is π /3.

1. π/6
2. π /3
3. 2π /3
4. π

9. A unit circle and an angle are graphed on the coordinate plane below.
Use the graph to calculate the value of sin .

1. sin θ = 0.8
2. sin θ = 0.6
3. sin θ = 0.6
4. sin θ = 0.8

10. Calculate the value of tan π /6?.

1. tan π/6?=1/2
2. tan π /6?=√3/3
3. tan π /6=√3
4. tan π /6 =2

Answers and Explanations

Interpreting Functions

1. A: The function f assigns to each element of the domain exactly one element of the range.
Consequently, if x is in the domain x ≥ 3, then the value of f is in the range f(x) ≥ 0. Therefore,
the correct answer is choice A. On the other hand, choice B is incorrect because f is not defined
for some positive values of x, like x = 1. Choice C is incorrect because the range of f is f(x) ≥ 0,
not f(3). Finally, choice D is incorrect because the value of f(3) is defined since x = 3 is in the
domain of f.

2. C: To evaluate g(2), substitute 2 for every occurrence of x in the equation g(x) = 3x + x + 5.

Then simplify the result using order of operations:
g(2) = 3(2) + (2) + 5
=6+2+5
= 13

3. D: The surface area will be given by the expression S(4). To calculate this value, substitute 4
for r in the equation S(r)=4πr2. Then simplify the result using order of operations:
S(4)=4π(4)2
= 4π – 16
= 64 π Therefore, the surface area of the sphere is 64π.

Building Functions

4. B: Since the theater will sell 500 tickets if it charges $10 per ticket, we know that t(10) = 500.
Furthermore, because of the way ticket price affects ticket sales, t must be a linear function that
decreases by 50 every time d increases by 1. Therefore, the d-term of the function is 50d, so the
function takes the form t(d) = 50d + c. To find the value of c, substitute 10 for d and 500 for
t(10) and solve for c.
t(10) = 50(10) + c
500 = 500 + c
1000 = c
Thus, the function is t(d) = 50d + 1000.

5. D: The cost of the taxi ride is the sum of two functions, a constant function for the first mile
and a linear function for the rest of the ride. The constant function is c1 (d)=4.25 since the cost of
the first mile is $4.25. For the linear part, subtract 1 from d to exclude the first mile, and then
multiply the result by 0.70 since it costs $0.70 per mile. The result is c 2 (d)=0.70(d-1). Finally,
write the function for the total cost of the taxi ride by adding the two functions.
c(d)=c1 (d)+c2 (d)
= 4.25 + 0.70(d – 1)

Linear, Quadratic, and Exponential Models

6. B: The length of an interval is the difference between its endpoints. For example, the length of
the interval [2, 4] is 2. To determine how the given function grows over an interval of length 3,
determine the value of f at each endpoint of that interval. Since exponential functions grow by
equal factors over equal intervals, you can use any interval of length 3, and your answer will
apply to all such intervals. For example, you can use the interval [0,3]:

f(0)=3-2(0)
=3–1
=3

f(3)=3-2(3)
=3–8
= 24

Since f(0) = 3 and f(3) = 24, the function grows by a factor of 24/3=8 over this interval.

7. C: Linear functions grow by equal differences (rather than equal factors) over equal intervals.
In other words, if the linear function c(f) converts a temperature f from Fahrenheit to Celsius,
then intervals of equal length (in f) result in equal increases in the value of the function c(f).
From the problem, we know that c(32) = 0 and c(68) = 20. Thus, we can conclude that intervals
of length 36 (like the interval [32,68]) result in an increase of 20 since 20 0 = 20. In addition,
since the length of [68,104] is 36, the function c(f) increases by 20 over this interval as well. Use
this information to calculate c(104).
c(104) = c(68) + 20 = 20 + 20 = 40
Therefore, we can conclude that 104 F is equivalent to 40 oC.

Trigonometric Functions

8. B: An arc is a piece of a circle. In the figure, AB is the piece of the circle that starts at point A
and ends at B. In general an arc length s is given by s = θR, where R is the radius of the circle
containing the arc and ? is the angle subtended by radii drawn to the endpoints of the arc. In a
unit circle, the length of an arc is simply the measure of the angle (in radians) subtended by the
angle. Therefore, the arc length of AB is equal to the measure of ∠ AOB, so its length is π / 3.

9. A: In a unit circle, trigonometric functions can be represented by considering angles that start
from the positive side of the x-axis and are measured counterclockwise around the circle. For
angles like this, the sine of the angle is the y-coordinate of the point where the angle’s side meets
the unit circle. Since one side of the angle meets the unit circle at ( 0.6, 0.8), the value of sin θ; is
0.8.

10. B: The angle π / 6 is in radians. To convert it to degrees, multiply by 180/π.

π
/ 6– 180/ π=30o
Therefore, tan π / 6=tan 30o . To calculate this value, draw a 30-60-90 triangle, which is a special
triangle whose proportions you may have memorized. Making the hypotenuse one unit long
simplifies things, although it is not necessary as long as the proportions are the same.

By SOH-CAH-TOA, the tangent function is defined as opposite/adjacent in a right triangle. Therefore,

the value of tan 30o is 1/2 /√3/2. Simplify this fraction:
tan π/6=1/2/√3/2
= 1/√3
=√3/3

Alternatively, remember that tan θ = (sin θ) / (cos θ). You might have memorized the sine and
cosine of 30° as 1/2 and √3/2, respectively. This is the same division as above, and yields the
same answer.