Lecture 3

Functions and their graphs (I)

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Learning outcomes
• Determine the equation of a straight line and sketch its
graph on the x-y plane.
• Understand the concept of a function and determine its
domain and range.
• Compute the sum, difference, product, quotient and
composition of functions.

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Cartesian coordinate system
• The Cartesian coordinate system consists of two
perpendicular number lines. The horizontal line is the x-
axis and the vertical line is the y-axis.
• The point where the two lines intersect is called the origin,
O. The numbers on the axes to the right and above the
origin are positive whereas the numbers on the axes to
the left and below the origin are negative.
• The location of a unique point in the coordinate system is
indicated by an ordered pair in the form (x, y), also known
as the coordinates of the point. 3
Cartesian coordinate system

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Slope
• Slope or gradient, is a measure of the “steepness” of
the line.
• It is defined as the ratio of the vertical change to the
horizontal change for any two points on the line, i.e. if
(x1, y1) and (x2, y2) are two points on the line, then
y2  y1
Slope 
x2  x1

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Example 3.1
• Find the slope of the line passing through (1, 2) and (5, 4).
4 2
Slope 
5 1
2

4
1

2

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Different types of slopes

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Parallel and perpendicular slopes

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Example 3.2
• A line L1 passes through the points (–1, 2) and (4, 12).
Find the slope of the line which is (a) parallel to L1, and
(b) perpendicular to L1.
12  2
(a) Slope of L1  2
4   1
Slope of line parallel to L1 2

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Example 3.2
• A line L1 passes through the points (–1, 2) and (4, 12).
Find the slope of the line which is (a) parallel to L1, and
(b) perpendicular to L1.
1
(b) 2m  1  m 
2
1
Slope of line perpendicular to L1 
2

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Equation of straight lines
• An equation of a straight line shows a linear relationship
between two variables, usually denoted by x and y.
• Therefore, every straight line lying in the coordinate
system can be represented by an equation.
• All the points with coordinates (x, y) that lie on the
straight line will satisfy the equation.

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Horizontal and vertical lines
• Consider the equation of a
vertical line that passes through
the point (a, b).
• Any other point on the line
would have coordinates (a, y).
• Thus the equation of a vertical
line would be of the form x = a.

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Horizontal and vertical lines
• Consider the equation of a
horizontal line that passes
through the point (a, b).
• Any other point on the line would
have coordinates (x, b).
• Thus the equation of a horizontal
line would be of the form y = b. .

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Point slope form
• Most lines are neither parallel to the x-axis nor to the y-
axis but are usually inclined at an angle to the x-axis.
• To determine the equation of a general line, we first
need to compute the slope of the line, m.
y2  y1
m
x2  x1
• Then use the formula
y  y1 m  x  x1 
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Example 3.3
• Find the equation of the line that passes through the
points (3, 1) and (5, 11).

11  1 10
Slope of line, m   5
5 3 2
y  1 5  x  3
y  1 5 x  15
5 x  y  14 0
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Slope intercept form
• The slope-intercept form of a line that has slope m and
intersects the y-axis at the point (0, b) is given by
y mx  b

slope y-intercept

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Example 3.6
• Find the equation of the line L that passes through the
point (3, –2) and is perpendicular to the line with
equation y = 2x – 1.

Let the slope of the line be m. As the lines are

perpendicular,
2m  1
1
m 
2
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Example 3.6
• Find the equation of the line L that passes through the
point (3, –2) and is perpendicular to the line with
equation y = 2x – 1.
1
y   2    x  3
2
1 3
y  2  x 
2 2
1 1
y  x 
2 2
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Exercise
• Try Discussion questions Q1, 2, 3 and 4.

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Functions
• A function is a mathematical relation between two sets A
and B such that each element in set A is associated with
exactly one element in set B.
• The mathematical relation is called the rule of the
function and is usually denoted by f.
• If x is an element in set A, then the element in B that is
associated with x is written f(x).

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Functions

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Evaluating functions
• When we evaluate a function, we are computing the
value of f(x) for a specific value of x.
• This is usually accomplished by simply replacing x with
the particular value.

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Example 3.7
• The function f is defined by the rule f(x) = x2 – 3x + 1.

(a)f(2) = (2)2 – 3(2) + 1 = –1

(b) f(–1) = (–1)2 – 3(–1) + 1 = 5

(c) f(a) = (a)2 – 3(a) + 1 = a2 – 3a + 1

(d) f(a + 1) = (a + 1)2 – 3(a + 1) + 1 = a2 – a – 1 23

Domain of a function
• The domain of a function f consists of all values of x
such that f(x) is a real number.
• Take note of the following:
• Division by zero is not allowed.
• The square root of a negative number is not a real number.

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Example 3.8
• Find the domain of each function.

(a) f  x  x 2  x  1

Substituting any real number x will obtain a real number

for f(x). Hence the domain for f is the set of all real
numbers, i.e. (–∞, ∞) or 

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Example 3.8
• Find the domain of each function.
1
(b) f  x   2
x 9
1
Factorising the denominator, we have f  x  
 x  3 x  3
As division by zero is undefined, the domain for f is the
set of all real numbers excluding 3 and –3, i.e. (–∞, –3) 
(–3, 3)  (3, ∞).
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Example 3.8
• Find the domain of each function.

(c ) f  x   x  2

We require that x – 2 be positive or zero, i.e. x – 2 ≥ 0.

Solving the inequality will give x ≥ 2. Hence the domain
for f is the set of all real numbers that are greater than or
equal to 2, i.e. [2, ∞).

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Range of a function
• The range of a function is the set of all elements that
f(x) can take.
• To determine the range of a function, we can present a
function as a graph.
• The domain is the set of all real numbers lying on the x-
axis and the range is the set of all real numbers lying on
the y-axis.

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Example 3.9
Domain = [–2, 4]

f(3) = 2

Range = [–2, 2]

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Plotting graphs
• By plotting a few points (x, f(x)) of a function, we are
usually able to determine the shape of the graph.
• The graph of a linear equation is a straight line
• The graph of a quadratic equation is a parabola.

• A function defined by giving different formulas for

different sections of its domain is called a piecewise-
defined function.

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Plotting graphs
• More systematic and sophisticated techniques for
graphing linear and quadratic functions will be
discussed in the next chapter.

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Example 3.11
• Sketch the graph of the function f defined by

 x if x 0
f  x  
2 x  1 if x  0
• Hence, find the range of the function f.

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 Example 3.11
f(x) = –x f(x) = 2x + 1

x –2 –1 0 x 0 1 2
f(x) –2 –1 0 f(x) 1 3 5

Range of f = [0, ∞). 33

Vertical line test for functions
• Recall that in a function the element f(x) associated with
the element x is unique.
• We can determine whether a curve is the graph of a
function by the vertical line test.
• Vertical line test: A curve is a function if and only if each
vertical line intersects it in at most one point

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Example 3.12
• Determine which of the curves shown below are graphs
of functions.

(a) (b)

Function Not a function 35

Algebraic operations on functions
• Algebraic operations on functions are similar to
operations on polynomials.
• Given two functions f and g,
 f  g  x   f  x   g  x 
f  g  x   f  x   g  x 
 fg  x   f  x  g  x 
 f  f x 
  x   , g  x  0
g g x  36
Example 3.13
• Let f(x) = x2 – 1 and g(x) = x – 2.

 f  g   
x  x 2
 1   x 1
 x  2  x 2

f  g  x   x  1   x  2   x  x  3
2 2

 fg  x   x 2
 1 x  2 
 f  x2 1
  x  
g x 2
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Composite functions
f  x   x  1, g  x   x 2

1 2 4
f  x  x  1 g  x  x 2
2 3 9
… … …
a a+1 (a + 1)2

g  f  x   x  1
2
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Composite functions
• In general, if f and g are functions, then the composition
of g and f is defined by the function
 g  f  x  g  f  x 

• A composite function depends on the function that we

“apply first”. Therefore, the composite function g ◦ f is
usually different from the function f ◦ g.

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Example 3.14
f  x  x , g  x   x  1
2

 g  f  x  g  f  x   f  g  x   f  g  x 
g  x 2  f  x1 
 
2 2
 x 1  x1
x  1
x  2 x 1
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Exercise
• Try Discussion questions Q6, 7, 8 and 9.

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