Chapter 6 : Function
6.1 Introduction to a function
Definition A: Let A and B be nonempty sets. A function f from A to B is an assignment
of exactly one element of B to each element of A. We write f(a) = b if b is
a unique element of B assign by the function f to the element a of A. If f is
a function of A to B, we write f : A B
Function f maps A to B
Example 1:
Suppose that each in a discrete mathematics class is assigned a letter grade from the set
{A,B,C,D,F} where A for Bryan, C for Steven, B for Baxter, A for Rihanna and F for
Kim.
Definition B: If f is a function from A to B, we say that A is the domain of f and B is the
co-domain of f. If f(a) = b, we say that b is the image of a and a is a pre-image of b. the
range of f is the set of all images of elements of A.
Example 2:
Determine the domain, co-domain and range for the example 1.
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Example 3:
Let f be a function where f(x) = x2 + 17. Solve the following:
a) f(3)
b) f(11)
c) f(a + 5)
d) f(x) = 42
e) f(x) = 31
Definition C: Let f1 and f2 be functions from A to R. Then,
1) (f1 + f2)(x) = f1(x) + f2(x)
2) (f1 + f2)(x) = f1(x) - f2(x)
3) (f1 f2)(x) = f1(x) f2(x)
Example 4:
Given that f1(x) = x2 + 6 and f2 (x) = 2x2 – x + 3, find the following operations:
a) f1 + f2
b) f2 – f1
c) f1 f2
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6.2 One-to-one and onto functions
Definition D: A function f is said to be one-to-one, or injective, if and only if f(a) = f(b)
implies that a = b for all a and b in the domain of f. A function is said to be
an injection if it is one-to-one function.
Example 5:
Determine whether the function f from {a,b,c,d} to {1,2,3,4,5} with f(a) = 4, f(b) = 5,
f(c) = 1 and f(d) = 3 is one-to-one.
Example 6:
Determine whether the function f(x) = x2 from the set of integers is one-to-one.
But what happen if the domain is change to positive integers?
Definition E: A function f from A to B is called onto, or surjective, if and only if for
every element b ∈ B there is an element a ∈ A with f(a) = b. A function f
is called a surjection if it is onto.
Example 7:
Let f be the function from {a,b,c,d} to {1,2,3} defined by f(a) = 3, f(b) = 2, f(c) = 1 and
f(d) = 3. Is f an onto function?
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Example 8:
Is the function f(x) = x + 1 from the set of integers to the set of integers onto?
The following shows the examples of different types of correspondences.
6.3 Inverse function
Definition F: Let f be a one-to-one correspondence from the set A to the set B. The
inverse function of f is the function that assigns to an element b belonging
to B the unique element a in A such that f(a) = b. The inverse function of f
is denoted by f-1. Hence f-1(b) = a when f(a) = b.
Example 9:
Find the inverse function for each of the following functions:
a) f(x) = 3x + 2
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b) f(x) = (5x – 1)2
c) f(x) =
d) f(x) = log5 (2x – 1)
e) f(x) = e5x – 1
Exercise 1:
1. Given the function f(x) = cos 2x. Find:
a) f(3)
b) f( )
c) f(x) = 100
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2. Given the function h(x) = 5x2 – 4x + 7. Find:
a) h(x) = 72
b) h(x) = m + 2
c) h(15)
d) h(2.5)
3. Given the following functions:
f(x) = 5x3 + 7x, g(x) = 3x + 10, h(x) = 6x2 – 2x + 3
Find:
a) g+h
b) f–g
c) h+f–g
d) g×f
e) f+h×g
4. Find the inverse function for the each of the following functions:
a) f(x) = 35x – 1
b) f(x) =
c) f(x) = ln (2x – 1)
d) f(x) =
6.4 Composite Function
Composite functions are functions that arise as a result of the combination of two of more
basic functions. The composite function as follows:
f o g = f [ g(x)]
f o g o h = f [ g [ h(x) ]]
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Example 10:
Given two functions as follows:
f(x) = 2x + 5
g(x) = x2 – 2
Find the composite function:
a) f o g
b) g o f
c) f o f
d) g o g
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Example 11:
Given the following functions:
f(x) = 7 – 3x
g(x) = 4x + 1
a) g o f (-2)
b) g o f (3)
c) g o f (x) = 5
d) g o f (x) = 10
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Exercise 2:
1. Consider the two functions:
f(x) = 4x + 5
g(x) =
a) f o g (x) = 7
b) g o f (x) = x
c) g o g (3)
2. Given the functions as follows:
h(x) = 2x + 3
g(x) =
a) h o g (3)
b) g o h (-1)
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