1|Lecture Guide 1: Functions

Engr. Theresa Lean Roma B. Tuliao

FUNCTION, DOMAIN AND RANGE

In nearly every physical phenomenon we observe that one quantity depends on another. For example, your
height depends on your age, the temperature depends on the date, the cost of mailing a package depends
on its weight.

Here are some more examples:

 The area of a circle is a function of its radius.
 The number of bacteria in a culture is a function of time.
 The weight of an astronaut is a function of her elevation.
 The price of a commodity is a function of the demand for
that commodity.

A function f is a rule that assigns to each element in a set A exactly one element, called f(x), in a set B.

A symbolic way to say “y is a function of x” is by writing

𝑦 = 𝑓(𝑥) (“𝑦 equals 𝑓 of 𝑥”)

In this notation, the symbol 𝑓 represents the function. The letter 𝑥, called the independent variable,
represents the input value of 𝑓, and 𝑦, the dependent variable, represents the corresponding output value
of ƒ at x.

The set D of all possible input values is called the domain of the function. The set of all values of 𝑓(𝑥) as 𝑥
varies throughout D is called the range of the function. The range may not include every element in the set
Y.

Identifying Domain and Range

A function can be pictured as a kind of machine that produces an output value ƒ(x) in its range whenever we
feed it an input value x from its domain:

We can also picture a function as an arrow diagram:

Each arrow associates an element of the domain D to a unique or single element in the set Y. The arrows
indicate that ƒ(a) is associated with a, ƒ(x) is associated with x, and so on.

Let us try to verify the domain and range of the following functions:

Function Domain (x) Range (y)

a.) 𝑦 = 𝑥 2 (−∞, ∞) [0, ∞)
1 (−∞, 0) ∪ (0, ∞) (−∞, 0) ∪ (0, ∞)
b.) 𝑦 =
𝑥
2|Lecture Guide 1: Functions
Engr. Theresa Lean Roma B. Tuliao

c.) 𝑦 = √𝑥 [0, ∞) [0, ∞)

d.) 𝑦 = √4 − 𝑥 (−∞, 4] [0, ∞)
e.) 𝑦 = √1 − 𝑥 2 [−1,1] [−1,1]
f.) 𝑦 =
√𝑥 [0, 5) ∪ (5, ∞) (−∞, ∞)
𝑥−5
Note: Review interval notation!

Solution:
a.) The formula 𝑦 = 𝑥 2 gives a real y-value for any real number x, so the domain is (−∞, ∞).The range
of is because the square of any real number is nonnegative and every nonnegative number y is the
square of its own square root.
b.) The formula gives a real y-value for every x except 𝑥 = 0. So the domain is the set of all real numbers
except 0 or in interval notation
(−∞, 0) ∪ (0, ∞) because we cannot divide any number by zero. The range of the function is the set
of reciprocals of all nonzero real numbers, is the set of all nonzero real numbers.
c.) The formula gives a real y-value only if 𝑥 ≥ 0. The range is
[0, ∞) because every nonnegative number is some number’s square root (namely, it is the square
root of its own square).
d.) The quantity under the square root cannot be negative. That is, 4 − 𝑥 ≥ 0, or 𝑥 ≤ 4. The formula gives
real y-values for all 𝑥 ≤ 4. The range of is the set of all nonnegative numbers or [0, ∞)
e.) The formula gives a real y-value for every x in the closed interval from -1 to 1. Outside this domain,
1 − 𝑥 2 is negative and its square root is not a real number. The values of 1 − 𝑥 2 vary from 0 to 1 on
the given domain, and the square roots of these values do the same. The range is [0, 1].
f.) For the numerator to be defined, we must have𝑥 ≥ 0. Also, we cannot divide by zero, so 𝑥 ≠ 5. Thus
the domain is [0, 5) ∪ (5, ∞). The range is (-∞,∞).

Another way to identify the domain and range of functions is by using graphs. Because the domain refers to
the set of possible input values, the domain of a graph consists of all the input values shown on the x-axis.
The range is the set of possible output values, which are shown on the y-axis. Keep in mind that if the graph
continues beyond the portion of the graph we can see, the domain and range may be greater than the visible
values.

For example, the graph in example d is shown below. We can easily derive from the graph that the domain
is (−∞, 4]and the range is [0, ∞)
3|Lecture Guide 1: Functions
Engr. Theresa Lean Roma B. Tuliao

CLASSIFICATION OF FUNCTIONS AND THEIR GRAPHS

1. Linear Function
When we say that y is a linear function of x, we mean that the graph of the function is a line, so we
can use the slope-intercept form of the equation of a line to write a formula for the function as
𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑚𝑥 + 𝑏
Example:

Notice that whenever x increases by 0.1, the value of y increases by 0.3. A characteristic feature of
linear functions is that they grow at a constant rate. So y increases three times as fast as x. Thus, the
slope, m, of the graph 𝑦 = 3𝑥 − 2 is 3. This can be solved as
∆𝑦 0.3
𝑚= = =3
∆𝑥 0.1

2. Polynomial Function

A function is called a polynomial if

𝑃(𝑥) = 𝑎𝑛 𝑥 𝑛 + 𝑎𝑛−1 𝑥 𝑛−1 + ⋯ + 𝑎2 𝑥 2 + 𝑎1 𝑥 + 𝑎0

where n is a nonnegative integer and the numbers 𝑎0 , 𝑎1 , 𝑎2 , … , 𝑎𝑛 are constants called the
coefficients of the polynomial. The domain of any polynomial is the set of all real numbers.

If the leading coefficient 𝑎𝑛 ≠ 0, then the degree of the polynomial is n.

A polynomial of degree 2 is of the form 𝑃(𝑥) = 𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑏𝑥 + 𝑐 is called a quadratic function. Its graph
is always a parabola which opens upward if 𝑎 > 0 and downward if 𝑎 < 0.
Examples of Polynomial Function (Quadratic)
4|Lecture Guide 1: Functions
Engr. Theresa Lean Roma B. Tuliao

𝑦 = 𝑥2 + 𝑥 + 1 𝑦 = −2𝑥 2 + 3𝑥 + 1

A polynomial of degree 3 is of the form

𝑃(𝑥) = 𝑎𝑥 3 + 𝑏𝑥 2 + 𝑐𝑥 + 𝑑
and is called a cubic function.

𝑦 = 𝑥3 − 𝑥 + 1 𝑦 = 𝑥 4 − 3𝑥 2 + 𝑥
Cubic Function Polynomial of Degree 4

𝑦 = 3𝑥 5 − 25𝑥 3 + 60𝑥
Polynomial of Degree 5

3. Power Functions
A function of the form (𝑥) = 𝑥 𝑎 , where a is a constant, is called a power function.

We consider several cases:

i.) a is a positive integer
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Engr. Theresa Lean Roma B. Tuliao

The graphs of 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 𝑛 for n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 are shown in the following figures.

The general shape of the graph of depends on whether n is even or odd. If n is even, then f(x)
is an even function and its graph is similar to the parabola 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 2 . If it is odd, then f(x) is
an odd function and its graph is similar to that of 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 3
𝟏
ii.) 𝒂 = 𝒏 where n is a positive integer (root function)

For 𝑛 = 2, it is the square root function𝑓(𝑥) = √𝑥, whose domain is[0, ∞) ]. For other even
values of n, the graph is similar to that of (𝑥) = √𝑥 . For n=3 we have the cube root function
3
whose domain is R. The graph for n odd (n>3) is similar to that of 𝑓(𝑥) = √𝑥

iii.) 𝒂 = −𝟏 (reciprocal function)

The graph of the reciprocal function 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 −1 is shown below. Its graph has the equation
1
= 𝑥 𝑜𝑟 𝑥𝑦 = 1 and is a hyperbola with the coordinate axes as its asymptotes.
6|Lecture Guide 1: Functions
Engr. Theresa Lean Roma B. Tuliao

4. Rational Functions
A rational function is a quotient or ratio of two polynomials:
𝑃(𝑥)
𝑓(𝑥) =
𝑄(𝑥)
Where P and Q are polynomials. The domain consists of all values of such that the denominator Q(x)
is not equal to zero.

Example:
2𝑥 4 − 𝑥 2 + 1
𝑓(𝑥) =
𝑥2 − 4

is a rational function with domain the set of all real numbers except 2.

5. Algebraic Functions

A function is called an algebraic function if it can be constructed using algebraic operations starting
with polynomials. A rational function is automatically an algebraic function.

Examples:
𝑓(𝑥) = √𝑥 2 + 1
𝑥 4 − 16𝑥 2 3
𝑔(𝑥) = + (𝑥 − 2)√𝑥 + 1
𝑥 + √𝑥

6. Trigonometric Functions

Note: In calculus, the convention is that radian measure is always used (except when otherwise
stated).
7|Lecture Guide 1: Functions
Engr. Theresa Lean Roma B. Tuliao

Notice that for both the sine and cosine functions the domain is
(−∞, ∞) and the range is the closed interval
[−1, 1] . Thus, for all values of x, we have
−1 ≤ sin 𝑥 ≤ 1 and −1 ≤ cos 𝑥 ≤ 1

An important property of the sine and cosine functions is that they are periodic functions and have
period 2𝜋.This means that the graph of the sine and cosine function is repeated every2𝜋. This means
that, for all values of x,
sin(𝑥 + 2𝜋) = sin 𝑥 and cos (𝑥 + 2𝜋) = cos 𝑥

The tangent function is related to the sine and cosine functions by the equation
sin 𝑥
tan(𝑥) =
cos 𝑥
Tangent functions has period 𝜋.

The remaining three trigonometric functions (cosecant, secant, and cotangent) are the reciprocals of the
sine, cosine, and tangent functions.

7. Exponential Functions
The exponential functions are the functions of the form
𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑎 𝑥 , where the base a is a positive constant.
8|Lecture Guide 1: Functions
Engr. Theresa Lean Roma B. Tuliao

8. Logarithmic Functions
The logarithmic functions𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑎 𝑥, where the base a is a positive constant, are the inverse
functions of the exponential functions