Functions and Relations

Sets
Consider two sets, which we will call S and T.
There are several ways in which the two sets S and T may be related:

The sets may be identical, that is, every element of one set is also an
element of the other set.

The sets may be disjoint, that is, no element belongs to both sets. There is
no overlap between the sets.

Set S may be a proper subset of set T. That is, every element of S is also
an element of T, but T has some elements that are not in S.

Set T may be a proper subset of set S.

The sets may overlap (some elements are in both S and T), without either
being a proper subset of the other (each set contains some elements that
are not in the other set).

Relations
However, this page isn't really about sets. This page is really about relations
and functions. For clarity, all our examples use disjoint sets (see Figure 1).
However, the same definitions apply regardless of the relationship between the
two sets. The only difference is that, if we didn't use disjoint sets, the examples
would be harder to figure out.

Suppose we have two sets, S and T. A relation on S and T is a set of ordered

pairs, where the first thing in each pair is an element of S, and the second thing
is an element of T.
For example, suppose S is the set {A, B, C, D, E}, while T is the set {W, X, Y, Z}.
Then one relation on S and T is {(A,Y), (C,W), (C,Z), (D,Y)}. There are four
ordered pairs in the relation. We can draw this as four arrows going from S to T
(see Figure 2). One arrow goes from A to Y; another goes from C to W; another
goes from C to Z; and another goes from D to Y.

The purpose of this page is just to define terms. Giving names to things is not
important unless you can later use those names to talk about the things. These
terms we define here are used throughout mathematics, and are pretty
important; but we don't go into any of that here. We just define the terms.
The most important of the terms we will define is function. You have probably
seen this word defined in algebra or calculus, and you may think this is another
meaning for the same word. It's important to realize that there is only one
meaning in mathematics for the word "function", and this is it. Moreover, the
definition given here is the "best" definition because, since the definition is given
in terms of sets, it is the most general and most applicable definition. Any other
definition is just a special case.
Anyway, to continue.
The domain of a relation on S and T is the set of elements of S that appear as
the first element in an ordered pair of the relation. In the relation {(A,Y), (C,W),
(C,Z), (D,Y)}, the domain is {A, C, D}. If you look at Figure 2, these are the
elements of S that have arrows coming out of them.
The range of a relation on S and T is the set of elements of T that appear as the
second element in an ordered pair of the relation. In the relation {(A,Y), (C,W),
(C,Z), (D,Y)}, the range is {W, Y, Z}. If you look at Figure 2, these are the
elements of T that have arrows pointing to them.
For some reason, the word codomain has become popular as a synonym for
"range." I think it's an ugly word. If anyone has an explanation for why this word
has become popular, I would very much like to hear it.
In Figure 2, not every element of T has an arrow pointing to it. That is, there are
some elements of T (in particular, the element X) that do not occur as a second
element of an ordered pair. We say that the relation is into T.
Suppose we have a relation in which every element occurs (at least once) as a
second element of an ordered pair. For example, the relation {(A,Y), (B, X), (C,W),
(C,Z), (D,Y)} (See Figure 3) is just like the previous relation, except that it also
contains the ordered pair (B, X). The relation is onto: every element of set T has
an arrow (at least one) pointing to it.

While the word "onto" has a precise definition (the range of the relation is the set
T itself), the word "into" is not usually so well defined. "Into" could be used to
mean "not onto" (there is at least one element of T that does not have an arrow
pointing to it), or it could mean "not necessarily onto", that is, there might be
some element of T that does not have an arrow pointing to it. Different authors
might choose to define "into" in different ways, or not define it precisely, or just
not define it at all.
Suppose we put in every possible arrow from S to T. That is, from each element
of S we draw arrows to each element of T (see Figure 4). This "largest possible
relation" is called the Cartesian product of S and T. Every other relation on S
and T is a subset of the Cartesian product.

(How is it possible for a relation to be a subset of another relation? Remember

that a relation is just a set of ordered pairs. Or, in our pictures, a relation is a set
of arrows.)
Next we will say that a relation is one to one, or 1-1, if no element of S occurs
more than once as the first element of an ordered pair, and no element of T
occurs more than once as a second element of an ordered pair. In other words,
no element of S or T has more than a single arrow attached to it. (See Figure 5).

(This definition holds even when S and T are not disjoint, but the picture is a little
more confusing. An element that is in both S and T could have a single arrow
attached to it, as before, but at both ends!)
Functions
Now we get to what is perhaps the most important term. Suppose every element
of S occurs exactly once as the first element of an ordered pair. In our pictures
(see Figure 6), every element of S has exactly one arrow coming from it. This
kind of relation is called a function.

Another word for function is mapping. A function is said to map an element in

its domain to an element in its range.
Here are some important facts about a function from S to T:
1. Every element in S in the domain of the function; that is, every element of
S is mapped to some element in the range. (If some element in S has no
mapping (arrow), then the relation is sometimes called a partial function,
but it is not a function!)
2. No element in the domain maps to more than one element in the range.
3. The mapping is not necessarily onto; some elements of T may not be in
the range.
4. The mapping is not necessarily 1-1; some elements of T may have more
than one element of S mapped to them.
5. S and T need not be disjoint.

To tell whether a relation on S and T is a function, you can ignore T altogether.

Just look at S. If every element of S has one and only one element coming out of
it, then the relation is a function.
Kinds of functions
There are three kinds of functions that are important enough to have special
names: surjection, injection, and bijection.
A surjection or onto function from S to T is a function whose range is T itself.
That is, every element of T has at least one arrow pointing to it; so the relation is
onto. Figure 6 is an example of a surjection.
Since the domain of a function from S to T is the entire set S (by the definition of
function), and since the range of a surjective function from S to T is the entire set
T, this means that every element of both sets is in the relation (has an arrow
connected to it).
Also note that if you have a surjection from S to T, S may have more elements
than T, or it may have the same number of elements, but it cannot have fewer
elements than T. This is because every element of S has exactly one arrow
emanating from it, but each element of T has at least one arrow pointing to it,
and could have many.
An injection or one-to-one function from S to T is a function that is one to
one. That is, every element in both S and T has at least one arrow attached to it.
By the definition of function, of course, every element of S has exactly one arrow
emanating from it, no more, no less. A one-to-one function also requires that
every element of T can have no more than one arrow pointing to it; but there
could be elements of T that do not have any arrows pointing to them.
Figure 7 shows an injection. However, we had to modify the sets a little bit to get
this example. A little thought will show that, with an injection from S to T, T must
have at least as many elements as S. To get our example, we removed some
elements from S. (We could equally as well have added elements to T.)

Finally, a function that is both 1-1 and onto is called a bijection. Such a function
maps each and every element of S to exactly one element of T, with no elements
left over. shows a bijection. Again, we had to modify the sets a little because,
with a bijection, sets S and T have to have exactly the same number of elements.

A bijection is particularly interesting because this kind of function has an

inverse. If you took a bijection from S to T and reversed the direction of all the
arrows, you would have a bijection from T to S. This new function would be the
inverse of the original function.