Revision Notes for Class 12 Maths

Chapter 1 – Relations and Functions

Relation

• Relations in Maths is one of the very important topics for the set theory.

• Relations and functions generally tell us about the different operations performed on
the sets.

• Relation in Maths can be put into term as a connection between the elements of two or
more sets and the sets must be non-empty.

• A relation namely R is formed by a Cartesian product of subsets.

• It defines the relationship between two sets of values, let say from set A to set B.

• Set A is then called domain and set B is then called codomain. If ( a, b )  R , it shows
that a is related to b under the relation R

Types of Relations:

1. Empty Relation:

• In this there is no relation between any element of a set.

• It is also known as void relation

• For example: if set A is 2, 4, 6 then an empty relation can be R =  x, y where

x + y  11

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2. Universal Relation:

• In this each element of a set is related to every element of that set.

• For example: if set A is 2, 4, 6 then a universal relation can be R =  x, y where

x+ y 0

3. Trivial Relation: Empty relation and universal relation is sometimes called trivial relation.

4. Reflexive Relation:

• In this each element of set (say) A is related to itself i.e., a relation R in set A is called
reflexive if ( a, a )  R for every a  A .

• For example: if SetA = 1, 2,3 then relation R = (1,1) , (1, 2 ) , ( 2, 2 ) , ( 2,1) , ( 3,3) is
reflexive since each element of set A is related to itself.

5. Symmetric Relation:

• A relation R in set A is called symmetric if ( a, b )  R and ( b, a )  R for every a, b  A .

• For example: if SetA = 1, 2,3 then relation R = (1, 2 ) , ( 2,1) , ( 2,3) , ( 3, 2 ) , ( 3,1) , (1,3 ) is
symmetric.

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6. Transitive Relation:

• A relation R in set A is called transitive if ( a, b )  R and ( b, c )  R then ( a, c ) also

belongs to R for every a, b, c  A .

• For example: if SetA = 1, 2,3 then relation R = (1, 2 ) , ( 2,3) , (1,3)( 2,3) , ( 3, 2 ) , ( 2, 2 ) is
transitive.

7. Equivalence Relation:

• A relation R on a set A is equivalent if R is reflexive, symmetric and transitive.

• For example: R = ( L1 , L2 ) : lineL1isparallellineL2  ,

This relation is reflexive because every line is parallel to itself

Symmetric because if L1 parallel to L2 then L2 is also parallel to L1

Transitive because if L1 parallel to L2 and L2 parallel to L3 then L1 is also parallel to L3

Functions

A function can have the same range mapped as that of in relation, such that a set of inputs is
related to exactly one output. A function f from a set A to a set B is a rule which associates
each element of set A to a unique element of set B.

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 • Set A is domain and set B is codomain of the function

• Range is the set of all possible resulting values given by the function.

For example: x 2 is a function where values of x will be the domain and value given by x 2 is
the range.

Types of Function:

1. One-One Function:

• A function f from set A to set B is called one-one function if no two distinct elements
of A have the same image in B.

• Mathematically, a function f from set A to set B if f ( x ) = f ( y ) implies that x = y for

all x, y  A .

• One-one function is also called an injective function.

• For example: If a function f from a set of real numbers to a set of real numbers, then
f ( x ) = 2 x is one-one function.

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2. Onto Function:

• A function f from set A to set B is called onto function if each element of set B has a
preimage in set A or range of function f is equal to the codomain i.e., set B.

• Onto function is also called surjective function.

• For example: If a function f from a set of natural numbers to a set of natural numbers,
then f ( x ) = x − 1 is onto the function.

3. Bijective Function:

• A function f from set A to set B is called a bijective function if it is both one-one

function and onto function.

• For example: If a function f from a set of real numbers to a set of real numbers, then
f ( x ) = 2 x is one-one function and onto function.

Composition of function and invertible function

• Composition of function: Let f : A → B and g : B → C then the composite of g and

f , written as g  f is a function from A to C such that ( g  f )( a ) = g ( f ( a ) ) for all a  A
. (Not in the current syllabus)

• Properties of composition of function: Let f : A → B , g : B → C and h : C → A then

a. Composition is associative i.e., h ( gf ) = ( hg ) f

b. If f and g are one-one then g  f is also one-one

c. If f and g are onto then g  f is also onto

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d. Invertible function: If f is bijective then there is a function f −1 : B → A such that
( f −1 f ) ( a ) = a for all a  A and ( f −1 f ) ( b ) = b for all b  B
f −1 is the inverse of the function f and is always unique. (Not in the current syllabus)

Binary Operations

• A binary operation are mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction,

multiplication and division performed between two operands.

• A binary operation on a set A is defined as operations performed between two elements

of set A and the result also belongs to set A. Then set A is called binary composition.

• It is denoted by *

For example: Binary addition of real numbers is a binary composition since by adding two real
numbers the result will always be a real number.

Properties of Binary Composition:

• A binary operation * on the set X is commutative, i.e., a * b = b * a , for every a, b  X

• A binary operation * on the set X is associative, i.e., a * ( b * c ) = ( a * b ) * c , for every

a, b, c  X

• There exists identity for the binary operation *: A  A → A , i.e., a * e = e * a = a for all
a, e  A

A binary operation *: A  A → A is said to be invertible with respect to the operation * if there

exist an element b in A such that a * b = b * a = e , e is identity element in A then b is the
inverse of a and is denoted by a −1

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Relations and Functions Class 12 Notes Mathematics

All the topics and subtopics which are covered in Relations and Functions for Class 12 are
given below:

• Introduction

• Types of Relations

• Types of Functions

• Composition of functions and invertible functions

• Binary operations

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