Functions and relationships explained

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Objectives: 1. To understand the difference between a function and a relationship. 2. Be able to make a relationship become a function.

Consider the following functions and their inverses.

Domain Range Domain Range

2 3 4 5 6

5 9 13 17 21

2 3 4 -4 -5 -6

7 14 23
But......

This is a one to one relationship and can be a function.

This is a many to one relationship, and so it can not be called a function.

So a function is only a function if it has an inverse with a one to one relationship. This can be seen on a graph.

This is a one to one relationship and can be a function.

This is a many to one relationship, and so it can not be called a function.

Turning relationships into functions.

This is not one to one and therefore not a function.

This is one to one and therefore is now a function. By reducing the domain we can create functions.

By graphing each of the following write down the domain required to turn each into a function.
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