FUNCTIONS

A function is a rule or correspondence which associates to each number x in a set Aa unique number f(x) in a set B. The set A is called the domain of f and the set of all f(x)'s is called the range of f.

A function relates an input to an output. It is like a machine that has an input and an output. And the output is related somehow to the input. "F(x) = ... " is the classic way of writing a function. And there are other ways, as you will see!

Input, Relationship, Output I will show you many ways to think about functions, but there will always be three main parts:

The input The relationship The output

Example: "Multiply by 2" is a very simple function. INPUT O 1 7 10 RELATION =2 =2 =2 =2 OUTPUT 0 2 14 20

Some Examples of Functions

x2 (squaring) is a function x3+1 is also a function Sine, Cosine and Tangent are functions used in trigonometry

But we are not going to look at specific functions ... instead we will look at the general idea of a function. The most common name is "f", but you can have other names like "g" ... or even "marmalade" if you want. But let's use "f":

You would say "f of x equals x squared" What goes into the function is put inside parentheses () after the name of the function: So f(x) shows you the function is called "f", and "x" goes in And you will often see what a function does with the input: f (x) = x2 shows you that function "f" takes "x" and squares it. Example: with f(x) = x2:

an input of 4 Becomes an output of 16.

In fact we can write (4) = 16 f(x) = 1 - x + x2 It is just there so you know where to put the values: f (2) = 1 - 2 + 22 = 3 Sometimes a function has no name, and you might just see something like

y = x2
But there is still:

an input (x)


Relating

a relationship (squaring) and an output (y)

At the top I said that a function was like a machine. But a function doesn't really have belts or cogs or any moving parts - and it doesn't actually destroy what you put into it! A function relates an input to an output.

Set of even numbers: {..., -4, -2, 0, 2, 4, ...} Set of prime numbers: {2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, ...} Positive multiples of 3 that are less than 10: {3, 6, 9} Each individual thing in the set (such as "4" or "hat") is called a member, or element.So, a function takes elements of a set, and gives back elements of a set. But a function has special rules:

It must work for every possible input value And you can only have one relationship for each input value

This can be said in one definition:

A function relates each element of a set with exactly one element of another set

The Two Important Things! 1. "...each element..." means that every element in X is related to some element in Y. We say that the function covers (relates every element of it). (But some elements of Y might not be related to at all, which is fine.) 2 "...exactly one..." means that a function is single valued. It will . not give back 2 or more results for the same input.

(one-to-many) This is NOT OK in a function

(many-to-one) But this is OK in a function It is a relationship, but it is not a function, for these reasons:

If a relationship does not follow those two rules then it is not a function ... it would still be a relationship, just not a function. Example: The relationship x x2

Value "3" in X has no relation in Y Value "4" in X has no relation in Y Value "5" is related to more than one value in Y

(But the fact that "6" in Y is not related to does not matter) Some types of functions have stricter rules, to find out more you can read Injective, Surjective and Bijective "Injective, Surjective and Bijective" tell you about how a function behaves. A function is a way of matching the members of a set "A" to a set "B":

Could also be written as a table: X: x 3 1 0 4 -4 ... Y: x2 9 1 0 16 16 ...

It is a function, because:

Every element in X is related to Y No element in X has two or more relationships

A General Function points from each member of "A" to a member of "B". To be a function you never have one "A" pointing to more than one "B", so one-to-many is not OK in a function (as you would have something like "f(x) = 7 or 9")

So it follows the rules. (Notice how both 4 and -4 relate to 16, which is allowed.

But more than one "A" can point to the same "B" (many-to-one is OK) Injective means that every member of "A" has its own unique matching member in "B". As it is also a function one-to-many is not OK And you won't get two "A"s pointing to the same "B", so many-toone is NOT OK. But you can have a "B" without a matching "A" Injective functions can be reversed! If "A" goes to a unique "B" then given that "B" value you can go back again to "A" (this would not work if two or more "A"s pointed to one "B" like in the "General Function") Read Inverse Functions for more. Injective is also called "One-to-One" Surjective means that every "B" has at least one matching "A" (maybe more than one). There won't be a "B" left out.

Let me show you on a graph what a "General Function" and a "Injective Function" looks like:

General Function

"Injective" (one-to-one)

In fact you can do a "Horizontal Line Test": To be Injective, a Horizontal Line should never intersect the curve at 2 or more points. Injective A function f is injective if and only if whenever f(x) = f(y), x = y. Example: f(x) = x+5 from the set of real numbers injective function. This function can be easily reversed. for example: to is an

Bijective means both Injective and Surjective together. So there is a perfect "one-to-one correspondence" between the members of the sets. (But don't get that confused with the term "One-to-One" used to mean injective). On The Graph

f(3) = 8

Given 8 we can go back to 3 Example: f(x) = x2 from the set of real numbers injective function because of this kind of thing: to is not an

f(2) = 4 and f(-2) = 4

This is against the definition f(x) = f(y), x = y, because f(2) = f(-2) but 2 -2. In other words there are two values of "A" that point to one "B", and this function could not be reversed (given the value "4" ... what produced it?) BUT if we made it from the set of natural numbers to then it is injective, because:

f(2) = 4 there is no f(-2), because -2 is not a natural number

Surjective (Also Called "Onto") A function f (from set A to B) is surjective if and only for every y in B, there is at least one x in A such that f(x) = y, in other words f is surjective if and only if f(A) = B. So, every element of the range corresponds to at least one member of the domain.

Example: The function f(x) = 2x from the set of natural numbers However, f(x) = 2x from the set of natural numbers function. Bijective to

to the set of non-negative even numbers is a surjective function. can be mapped to 3 by this

is not surjective, because, for example, nothing in

A function f (from set A to B) is bijective if, for every y in B, there is exactly one x in A such that f(x) = y Alternatively, f is bijective if it is a one-to-one correspondence between those sets, in other words both injective and surjective. Example: The function f(x) = x2 from the set of positive real numbers to positive real numbers is injective and surjective. Thus it is also bijective. But not from the set of real numbers because you could have, for example, both

f(2)=4 and f(-2)=4

Infinitely Many My examples have just a few values, but functions usually work on sets with infinitely many elements. Example: y = x3

The input set "X" is all Real Numbers The output set "Y" is also all the Real Numbers

I can't show you ALL the values, so I just give a few as an example: X: x -2 -0.1 0 1.1 Y: x3 -8 -0.001 0 1.331