MA1200 Calculus and Basic Linear Algebra I

Chapter 2 Sets and Functions

1 Set Notation
A set is a collection of distinct objects called elements or members of that set. For example,
A  1, 2,3, 4,5 is a set and a list of all its elements is given. In general, we use the notation
{x|x processes certain properties}to denote a set of objects that share some common properties. Also,
if e is an element of a set A, we write e  A (read as e belongs to A).

Illustration
Let V be the set of all vowels of the English alphabets, then
V = {a, e, i, o, u}
u is an element of the set V. However, p is NOT an element of the set V.
We can use u  V (read as u belongs to V) to show that e is an element of V, and use p  V to show
that p is NOT an element of V.

Some notations of the sets commonly used in Mathematics:

Z the set of all integers (the set that contains all integers), i.e. Z =  0,  1,  2, 
R the set of all real numbers (the set that contains all real numbers)
 (called a null set or empty set) a set that contains no element

Two sets are equal if they contain the same elements.

e.g. If A = {3, 5, 7} and B = {3, 5, 7}, then we can write A = B.

The relationships among sets can be conveniently illustrated by Venn diagrams.

e.g. Let V = {a, e, i, o, u} and T = {a, u}. The

figure on the right shows the Venn diagram: V
T

Subset
Given two sets A and B, we say that A is a subset of B (denoted by A  B ) if all elements of A belong
to B. In the above case, T is a subset of V and therefore we can write T  V . For example, we can
write Z  R to indicate that the set of all integers is a subset of the set of all real numbers.

1
Operations of Sets
It is often necessary to combine two or more sets to form new sets. This is done by set operations.
(a) Intersection
The intersection of two sets X and Y is a set whose elements belong to both X and Y. It is denoted by
X Y .
e.g. Let X = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8} and
Y = {5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}. We see that the X Y
elements 5, 6, 7, 8 belong to both X and Y. X Y
Therefore, X  Y = {5, 6, 7, 8}. The figure on
the right shows the Venn diagram:
The shaded part represents X  Y .

e.g. For the sets A = {1, 2, 3, 4} and B = {9, 10, 11, 12}, no object belongs to both A and B. Therefore,
A  B =  (empty set).

(b) Union
The union of two sets X and Y is a set whose elements belong to either X or Y or both of them. It is
denoted by X  Y .
e.g. Let X = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8} and Y = {5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}.
Then X  Y = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}.

X Y

The shaded part represents X  Y .

Question: Let A = {2, 4, 6, 8} and B = {–3, 6, 8, 12.4}. Write the set described by each of the
following. List all the elements in the set.
(i) A  B (ii) A  B (iii) B  Z (iv) B  R

(c) Complements
The complement of X with respect to Y is a set whose elements belong to Y but not belong to X. It is
denoted by Y \ X.
e.g. Let X = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8} and Y = {5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12}.
Then Y \ X = {9, 10, 11, 12} and X \ Y = {1, 2, 3, 4}.

X Y X Y

The shaded part represents Y \ X. The shaded part represents X \ Y.

2
2 Intervals
We can also use the notation {x | x processes certain properties} to denote a set of objects that share
some common properties. Sets with infinitely many elements are often denoted by this method.
e.g. {x | x is the outcome of throwing a die} is the set {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}.
{x | x is a prime number} is the set that contains all prime numbers.
{x | x > 0 and x is divisible by 3} is the set {3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, …}.
{x | x = 3m and m  Z } is the set that contains all multiples of 3.
Z = {x | x is an integer}
{x | x is a real number and 3 < x < 7} is the set of real numbers which are smaller than 7 and
greater than 3.

As mentioned, we use the symbol R to denote the set which contains exactly all the real numbers.
Also, the following symbols are frequently used to describe the corresponding subsets of real
numbers (a, b are two distinct real numbers):
 a, b   {x  R | a  x  b}
[a, b)  {x  R | a  x  b}
 a, b  {x  R | a  x  b}
[a, )  {x  R | x  a}
 , a   {x  R | x  a}

(The other subsets like (a, b],  a,   , (, a ],  ,   are defined similarly). These sets are usually
called intervals. In our discussion, most of the sets we consider are intervals.

Example 1
Use set notations to represent each of the following sets.
(a) The set of integers which are smaller than -6 and greater than -13.
(b) The set of integers which are greater than 2 and smaller than 30.
Solutions
(a) {-12, -11, -10, -9, -8, -7} or { x | x  Z and  13  x  6 } or { x  Z |  13  x  6 }
(b) {3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29}
or {x | x  Z and 2 < x < 30} or { x  Z | 2 < x < 30}

Example 2
Use bounded intervals to represent each of the following sets.
(a) The set of real numbers which are greater than -3 and are smaller than or equal to 6.
(b) The set of real numbers which are smaller than -6.
(c) 2, 8  3, 10 
(d) 2, 8  3, 10 
Solutions
(a)  3, 6 (it represents the set { x | x  R and  3  x  6 }, i.e.{ x  R |  3  x  6 }.)
(b)  ,  6  (it represents the set { x | x  R and x  6 }, i.e. { x  R | x  6 }.)
(c) 3, 8
(d) 2, 10 

3
Question: Use bounded intervals to represent each of the following sets.
(i)  2, 3  3,   (ii)  , 6  3,   (iii)  , 6  3,  

The Number System

The following presents the description of some types of real numbers:
- Natural Numbers are the numbers 1, 2, 3, ... .
- All natural numbers, together with 0, -1, -2, ... . forms the set of integers. {1, 2, 3, 4, …} are
the set of positive integers (also called the set of natural numbers) and {…, -3, -2, -1} are the
set of negative integers. 0 is neither positive nor negative.
p
- Rational numbers are numbers that can be represented in the form , where q is non-zero
q
and p and q are both integers. In particular, all integers are rational (pick q =1). Other
3 5 343
examples of rational numbers are: , , .
2 7 11
- Irrational numbers are real numbers with non-repeating decimals. Examples are:
e = 2.71828… (this special number is called the natural number)
  3.14159.... (pi, the ratio of a circle's perimeter to its diameter)
2  1.4142...

The following tree diagram represents the relations between different types of numbers:
Complex Numbers, C
e.g. 6, –2, 2 , 4i, 3 + 2i

(Note: R is a proper subset

Real Numbers, R of C.)
3
e.g. 6, , –2, 0.023, 5. 6 , 2, ,e
4

Irrational Numbers Rational Numbers, Q

e.g. 2 ,  , e 3
e.g. 6, , –2, 0.023
4

Integers, Z
{…, –3, –2, –1, 0, 1, 2, 3, …}

Negative Integers Zero Positive Integers

{…, –3, –2, –1} {0} {1, 2, 3, …}

4
3 Functions of a single real variable (p.157 – p.158, p.173 – p.176, p.193 – p.197)

A. Definition of a Function
A function f is a rule of correspondence that associates with each object x in one set A (called the
domain of f ) a unique (exactly one) value f  x  from a second set B (called the codomain of f ). The
set of values so obtained is called the range of the function.
f
range

domain codomain

It is customary to write f as: f :AB

In this course, we will mainly study those functions whose domains and codomains are subsets of R,
the set of real numbers. Moreover, when the rule for a function is given by an equation of the form
y  f  x  (for example: y  x 2  1 ), x is often called the independent variable and y the dependent
variable.

The following diagram shows the interpretation:

A well-defined function Not a function

The following equations define y as a function of x (where x is any real numbers):

y  x 2  5 x  1 , y   x 3  x 2  3x  2 , x  y  4
y  sin x , y  cos x , y  tan x (These are examples of Trigonometric Functions.)
y  e x , y  10 x , y  ln x (for x > 0), y  log x (for x > 0) (More properties of these functions will be
discussed later.)

The following equations do not define y as a function of x (where x is any real numbers). (Why?)
x  y2  4 , x2  y2  9

Question: If x is any real numbers, does y  x define y as a function of x?

How about if x is any non-negative real numbers?

5
Sometimes, we write f  x   x 2  5 x  1 instead of y  x 2  5 x  1 to better indicate the relation that
the value of y depends on the inputting value of x.

Example 3
It is given the function f  x   ax 2  3 x  c , where a and c are constants. If f 0   5 and f 3  32 ,
find the values of a and c.
Solution
f 0  5 a 0   30   c  5 c=5
2

f 3  32 a 3  33  5  32 a=2

2

Example 4
Determine the largest possible domain and the largest possible range for each of the following
functions.
(a) f  x   x 2 (b) f  x   25  x (c) f  x   x  4 (d) f  x   3 
1
x5
Solutions
(a) For the function f  x   x 2 , it is well-defined for any real numbers x. Therefore, the largest
possible domain is the set of all real numbers, i.e. R.
For any x, x 2  0 . Therefore, the largest possible range is the set of all non-negative real
numbers, i.e. 0,   .
(b) For the function f  x   25  x , it is well-defined for any real numbers x. Therefore, the largest
possible domain is the set of all real numbers, i.e. R.
For any x, 25  x is a real number which can be any number in R. Therefore, the largest possible
range is R.
(c) For the function f  x   x  4 , it is well-defined as long as x  4  0 , i.e. x  4 .
 The largest possible domain is  4,   .
For any x, x  4 is a non-negative real number.
 The largest possible range is 0,   .
(d) For the function f  x   3 
1
, it is well-defined as long as x  5  0 , i.e. x  5 .
x5
 The largest possible domain is R\{5}.
1
For any x, 3  is a real number EXCEPT 3.
x5
 The largest possible range is R\{3}.

Remark: The following show the graphs of the above functions.

Question:
Determine the largest possible domain and largest possible range for the function f  x   5  sin x .

6
B. Operations on functions
x 2 1
Consider the functions f and g with formulas f ( x)  and g ( x)  x9  x  1.
2
We can make a new function of f  g , where
x2 1 9
 f  g  x   f  x   g  x    x  x  1.
2
Clearly, x must be a number which belongs to both the domains of f and g. Similarly, we can define
the functions f  g , fg and f / g as follows:
 f  g  x   f  x   g  x 
 fg  x   f  x   g  x 
f  x
 f / g  x   (defined only for those x with g x   0 )
g  x

C. Composition of functions
Let f : A  B, g : B  C be two functions. We define the composite of g with f by
 g  f  x   g  f  x   .
Note that the domain of this function g  f is A (and its codomain is C). In general g  f and f  g
(if both are defined) are two different functions.

Example 5
Let f : R  R, f  x   x 2 and g : R  R, g  x   x  1 . Find (a) f  g , (b) g  f .
Solution
(a) f  g : R  R is ( f  g )  x   f  g  x    f  x  1   x  1 .
2

(b) g  f : R  R is  g  f  x   g  f  x    g  x 2   x 2  1 . Note that g  f  f  g .

7
4 Elementary Functions
In this section we will introduce different types of functions that are frequently used.

A. Some typical examples of functions (p.169, p.182 – p.187, p.206 – p.209)

A function of the form f  x   k where k is a fixed real number, is called a constant function.

The function f  x   x is called the identity function.

A function f  x   an x n  an 1 x n 1    a0 (where the a' i s are real numbers and n is a non-negative

integer) is called a polynomial function. If a n  0 , n is the degree of the polynomial function. In
particular,
f  x   ax  b (a  0) is called a linear function
f  x   ax 2  bx  c (a  0) is called a quadratic function.

Quotients of polynomial functions are called rational functions. That is, f is a rational function if it is
of the form
a x n  a x n 1    a1 x  a0
f  x   n m n 1 m 1 ,
bm x  bm 1 x    b1 x  b0
where a' i s and b' j s are real numbers and both n and m are non-negative integers.

The trigonometric functions, inverse trigonometric functions, exponential functions and logarithmic
functions and their properties will be discussed later. The following trigonometric identities will be
discussed later.

Odd-Even Identities Cofunction Identities

 
sin   x   cos x
sin   x    sin x 2 
 
cos   x   cos x cos   x   sin x
 2 
tan   x    tan x
 
tan   x   cot x
2 
Pythagorean Identities
sin 2 x  cos 2 x  1
1  tan 2 x  sec 2 x
1  cot 2 x  csc 2 x

Addition Identities
sin  x  y   sin x cos y  cos x sin y
cos  x  y   cos x cos y  sin x sin y
tan x  tan y
tan  x  y  
1  tan x tan y

8
 Double-Angle Identities
sin  2 x   2sin x cos x
cos  2 x   cos 2 x  sin 2 x  2 cos 2 x  1  1  2sin 2 x

Half-Angle Identities
1  cos  2 x 
sin 2 x 
2
1  cos  2 x 
cos 2 x 
2
Sum Identities
x y x y
sin x  sin y  2sin   cos  
 2   2 
x y x y
cos x  cos y  2 cos   cos  
 2   2 

Product Identities
1
sin x sin y   cos  x  y   cos  x  y  
2
1
cos x cos y  cos  x  y   cos  x  y  
2
1
sin x cos y  sin  x  y   sin  x  y  
2

B. Even and Odd Functions (p.178 – p.179, p.188 – p.189)

When both the domain and codomain of a function consist of real numbers, we can picture the
function by drawing its graph on a coordinate plane. For example, the graph of the function
f  x   4 x  3 is shown below:

We can often predict the symmetries of the graph of a function by inspecting the formula for the
function.
If f  x   f (x) , then the graph is symmetric with respect to y-axis. Such a function is called an
even function.
If f ( x)   f  x  , the graph is symmetric with respect to the origin. We call such a function an
odd function.

9
Example 6
Determine whether each of the functions are odd or even or neither of them.
x4  x2 1
(a) hx   x 2 (b) f  x   x 3 (c) g x   (d) m x   x 5  x 4  5
x2
Solutions
(a) h x    x   x 2  hx   It is an even function.
2

f  x    x    x 3   f  x  
3
(b) It is an odd function.

(c) g  x  
 x  4
  x   1
2

x  x 1
4 2
 g x   It is an even function.
 x  2
x2
m x    x    x   5   x 5  x 4  5 which is neither mx  nor  m x 
5 4
(d)
 It is neither an odd nor even function.

The absolute value function, defined by

 x if x  0
f x   x  
  x if x  0
is an example of even function.

The absolute value function is also an example of piecewise-defined function, i.e. a function that is
described by using different formulas on different parts of its domain.

The unit step function at x  a (where a  0 ),

is the function defined as
0 if x  a,
u a x   
1 if x  a.
In particular, when a = 0, we write u 0 x  as u  x  .
The unit step function is also an example of
piecewise-defined function.

The greatest integer function is the function

f  x    x   the greatest integer smaller
than or equal to x.
For example, f 3.1  3.1  3 , f 2   2  2 ,
f  3.1   3.1  4 .
The greatest integer function is sometimes
denoted as f  x   x  .

Question: What is the graph of the least integer function defined as

f  x   x   the least integer greater than or equal to x?

10
Example 7
2x
Sketch the graph of y   1 for x  0 .
x
Solution
 2x
  1, x  0  3, x  0
Note that y    x , i.e. y  
2x
  1, x  0 1, x0 y
x
2x
The graph of y   1 is as follows:
x 1o
x

o –3

C. Periodic functions and Increasing/Decreasing Functions

A function f (x) is periodic with period T if f  x  T   f  x  for any x which is contained in the
domain of f. If we look at the graph of such f, we will find that the graph of f ‘repeat’ itself
periodically.

Illustration
The function sin x is periodic with period 2 since sin  x  2   sin x .
The function f  x   x   x  is periodic with period 1. It is because
f  x  1   x  1   x  1  x  1   x   1  x   x   f  x 
for any x  R . The graph of f (x) is shown below:

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2

11
A function f is said to be monotonic increasing (resp. monotonic decreasing) if the following
condition is satisfied:
f ( x1 )  f ( x 2 ) whenever x1  x2
[resp. f ( x1 )  f ( x 2 ) whenever x1  x2 ]

Furthermore, if f ( x1 )  f ( x 2 ) whenever x1  x 2 , we call this f a strictly increasing function. Of

course, we can define strictly decreasing functions similarly.
Illustration
f  x   x3 is strictly increasing over R. For any two given real numbers x1 , x2 with x1  x2 , we have

f ( x1 )  f ( x2 )  x13  x23  ( x1  x2 )  x12  x1 x2  x22  

1
( x1  x2 ) ( x1  x2 )2  x12  x22   0
2
(since x1  x 2 ). That is, f ( x1 )  f ( x 2 ) whenever x1  x 2 .

Before ending this section, we want to point out there are functions like
e x ,sin 1 x , log x, cosh x  etc.

12
5 Inverse Functions

Consider the function f ( x)  x 3 .

f (x) has only one value for each value of x in its domain (that is R ). In geometric terms, any
vertical line meets the graph of f at only one point as shown below.

For this function f ( x)  x 3 , any horizontal line also meets the graph at only one point, as shown in
the following graph.

This means that different values of x always give different values to f (x) . Such a function is said to
be one-to-one.

Definition:
A function f is one-to-one if f ( x1 )  f ( x2 ) whenever x1 and x2 belong to the domain of f and
x1  x2 . Equivalently, if
f ( x1 )  f ( x2 )  x1  x2 .

Illustration
f ( x)  x 3 is one-to-one.
The equation y  x 3 has a unique solution x for every given value of y in the range of f .
1
x  y3

13
This equation defines x as a function of y . We call this new function the inverse of f and denote it
f 1 . Thus,
1
f 1 ( y )  y 3 .

Whenever a function f is one-to-one, for any number y in its range there will always exist a single
number x in its domain such that y  f (x) . Since x is determined uniquely by y , it is a function of
y . We write
x  f 1 ( y )
and call f 1 the inverse of f .

We usually like to write functions with the independent variable x rather than y , so we reverse the
roles of x and y .

Theorem:
A function f has an inverse if and only if it is one-to-one.

In practice, the inverse function f 1 is calculated from f by the following procedure:

1) check whether the function y  f  x  is one-to-one,
2) solve x in terms of y (if possible),
3) rewrite the independent variable as x and the dependent variable as y.

Illustration
Given f : R  R where f ( x)  2 x  3 .
The function f (x) is one-to-one.
y  2x  3
y3
x
2
x3
 The inverse function is f 1 ( x)  .
2

Illustration
Let f : R  [0, ) and f ( x)  x 2 . Then f has no inverse function since it is not one-to-one as it as
observed that f  x  takes the same value twice for x  0 . For example, f (1)  1  f (1) .

Illustration
Let g : [0, )  [0, ) where g ( x)  x 2 . Then g is one-to-one, so it has an inverse g 1 ( x)  x .

1
Note: Do not confuse the –1 in f 1 with an exponent. The inverse f 1 is NOT the reciprocal ,
f
which can be written as ( f ( x)) 1 .
 f 1 ( x)  ( f ( x)) 1 .

14
Properties of inverse functions
1. y  f 1 ( x)  x  f ( y ) .

2. The domain of f 1 is the range of f .

3. The range of f 1 is the domain of f .

4. f 1  f ( x)   x for all x in the domain of f .

5.  
f f 1 ( x)  x for all x in the domain of f 1 .

6. ( f 1 ) 1 ( x)  f ( x) for all x in the domain of f (i.e. the inverse of f 1 is f .)

7. The graph of f 1 is the reflection of the graph f in the line y  x .

E.g. f ( x)  x 3
1
f 1 ( x)  x 3

Some common examples of inverse functions:

1. Let f : R  [0, ) and f ( x)  10 x . Then the inverse of f is f 1 ( x)  log10 x .

2. Let g : R  [0, ) and g ( x)  e x . Then the inverse of g is g 1 ( x)  ln x .

  
3. Let h :  ,   [1, 1] and h( x)  sin x . Then the inverse of h is h 1 ( x)  sin 1 x .
 2 2
4. Let f : 0,    [1, 1] and f ( x)  cos x . Then the inverse of f is f 1 ( x)  cos 1 x .

  
5. Let g :   ,   R and g ( x)  tan x . Then the inverse of g is g 1 ( x)  tan 1 x .
 2 2

15