Functions
Functions Synopsis
Synopsis
- Function
A relation ‘f’ from a non-empty set A to another non-empty set B is said to be a function if every element of A has a unique image in B.
- Domain, co-domain and range of a function
• The domain of ‘f’ is the set (of all inputs) A. No two distinct ordered pairs in ‘f’ have the same first element.
• Every function is a relation but the converse is not true.
• If f is a function from A to B and (a, b) ε f, then f(a) = b, where ‘b’ is called the image of ‘a’ under f and ‘a’ is called the pre-image of ‘b’ under f.
• If f: A → B, then A is the domain and B is the co-domain of f.
• The range of the function is the set of all images (outputs). - Real function
• A function which has either R or one of its subsets as its range is called the real valued function.
• Moreover, a real function has the set of real numbers or one of its subsets both as its domain and as its range. - Types of Functions
• One-one (Injective) function
A function f: X → Y is said to be one-one or injective function if an element of A is associated to an unique element of set B.
i.e. f: X → Y is one-one if and only if, for all x1, x2 ∈ X, f(x1) = f(x2) ⇒ x1 = x2
• Many-one function
A function f: X → Y is said to be many-one if two or more elements of X have the same image in Y.
• Onto (Surjective) Function
A function f : A → B is an onto function, if for each b ε B, there is at least one a ε A such that f(a) = b, i.e. if every element in B is the image of some element in A, then f is an onto or surjective function.
For an onto function, range = co-domain.
• Bijective Function
A function which is both one-one and onto is called a bijective function or a bijection.
A one-one function defined from a finite set to itself is always onto, but if the set is infinite, then it is not the case.
• Into Function
The mapping f : A → B is called an into function if there exists at least one element in B having no pre-image in A.
• Identity function
i. Function f: X → X is an identity function if f(x) = x for each x ε A.
ii. Graph of the identity function is a straight line which makes an angle of 45° with both the x–axis and the y--axis, respectively. All points on this line have their x and y coordinates equal.
• Constant function
i. A constant function is one which maps each element of the domain to a constant i.e. for
f: R → R, f(x) = c for every x ε R.
ii. Domain of this function is R and range is the singleton set {c}, where c is a constant.
iii. Graph of a constant function is a line parallel to the x-axis. The graph lies above the x-axis if the constant c > 0, below the x-axis if the constant c < 0 and is the same as the x-axis if c = 0.
• Polynomial function
i. A function f: R → R defined as y = f(x) = a0 + a1x + a2x2 + …. + an xn, where n is a non-negative integer and a0, a1, a2, …an ε R is called a polynomial function.
ii. A linear polynomial function represents a straight line, while a quadratic polynomial function represents a parabola.
• Rational function
i. Functions of the form , where f(x) and g(x) ≠ 0 are polynomial functions, are called rational functions.
ii. Domain of rational functions does not include those points where g(x) = 0. For example, the domain of is R – {2}.
• Modulus function
i. The function f: R → R denoted by f(x) = |x| for each x ε R is called modulus function.
ii. The modulus function is defined as f(x) = x if x ≥ 0 and f(x) = −x if x < 0.
iii. The graph of a modulus function is above the x-axis as shown in the figure.
• Step or greatest integer function
i. A function f: R → R denoted by f(x) = [x], x ε R, where [x] represents the value of greatest integer, less than or equal to ‘x’ is called a step or greatest integer function. It is also called a floor function.
• Smallest integer function
A function f: R → R denoted by f(x) = [x], x ε R where is the value of the smallest integer, greater than or equal to ‘x’ is called a smallest integer function. It is also known as the ceiling function.
• Signum function
i. A function defined by f(x) = , x ≠ 0 and 0 for x = 0 is called signum function.
ii. The domain of a signum function is R and its range is {−1, 0, 1}.
• Exponential function
If ‘a’ is a positive real number other than unity, then a function which relates each x ε R to ax is called the exponential function.
• Logarithmic function
If a > 0 and a ≠ 1, then the function defined by f(x) = loga x, x > 0 is called the logarithmic function.
• Reciprocal function
The function defined by f : R - {0} → R such that, is called the reciprocal function.
• Square root function
The function defined by f : R+ → R such that, is called the square root function.
• Square function
The function defined by f : R → R such that, f(x) = x2 is called the square function.
• Cube function
The function defined by f : R → R such that, f(x) = x3 is called the cube function.
• Cube root function
The function defined by f : R → R such that, is called the cube root function.
• Inverse of a function
i. If f: A → B is a bijective function, then for every x ∈ A, we have a y ∈ B, such that y = f (x). A new function f–1 from B to A which associates each element y ∈ B to its pre-image x = f–1(y) ∈ A can be defined and this function f–1 is called the inverse of function f.
ii. Method to find f–1 if f is bijective
Step 1: Put y = f (x).
Step 2: Solve y = f (x) and express x in terms of y.
Step 3: The value of x obtained in step 2 gives f–1(y).
Step 4: Replace y by x in f–1(y) to obtain f–1(x).
• Even and odd functions
i. If f (x) is a function of x such that f(–x) = f(x) for every x ∈ domain, then f (x) is an even function of x.
ii. If f (x) is a function of x such that f(–x) = – f(x) for every x ∈ domain, then f (x) is an odd function of x. - Algebra of Real functions
Let f : X → R and g: X → R be two real functions, where X ⊂ R. Then
• (f + g): X → R is defined as (f + g) (x) = f(x) + g(x), x ε X.
• (f – g): X → R is defined as (f – g) (x) = f(x) – g(x), x ε X.
• (f ∙ g): X → R is defined as (f ∙ g) (x) = f(x) ∙ g(x), x ε X.
• (kf): X → R is defined as (kf) (x) = k (f(x)), x ε X, where k is a real number.
•
• (f + k) (x) = f(x) + k
• fn (x) = [f(x)]n - Composition of functions
Let f : A → B and g : B → C be two functions. Then a function gof : A → C defined by (gof) (x) = g (f (x), for all x ∈ A is called the composition of f and g.
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