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Composition of Function

Function composition involves taking one function as the input of another function. The order matters, with the rightmost function evaluated first. To compose functions f(x) and g(x) as f(g(x)): 1. Write f(x) as the outer function. 2. Replace all x in f(x) with g(x). 3. Simplify the resulting expression. Examples show composing various function types like square roots, rationals, and compositions of multiple functions from right to left. The key is substituting the inner function into the outer function and simplifying.

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37 views12 pages

Composition of Function

Function composition involves taking one function as the input of another function. The order matters, with the rightmost function evaluated first. To compose functions f(x) and g(x) as f(g(x)): 1. Write f(x) as the outer function. 2. Replace all x in f(x) with g(x). 3. Simplify the resulting expression. Examples show composing various function types like square roots, rationals, and compositions of multiple functions from right to left. The key is substituting the inner function into the outer function and simplifying.

Uploaded by

Goumnaam
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Composition of Function

If we are given two functions, it is possible to create or generate a “new” function by composing
one into the other. The step involved is similar when a function is being evaluated for a given
value. For instance, evaluate the function…

for x = –3
It is obvious that I need to replace each “x” by the value provided, and simplify.

The key idea in function composition is that the input of the function is not a numerical value,
instead, the input is also another function.

General Rule of Composition of Function


Suppose the two given functions are f (x) and g (x), the composition of is defined by

Also, the composition of is defined by

Few notes about the symbolic “formula” above:

 The order in function composition matters! You always compose functions from right to
left. Therefore, given a function, its input is always the one to its right side. In other words,
the right function goes inside the left function.
 Notice in , the input or “inner function” is function g because it is to the
right of function f, which is the main or “outer function”.

 In terms of the order of composition, do you see the same pattern in ?


That’s right! The function f is the inner function of the outer function g.
Let us go over a few examples to see how function composition works. You will realize later that
it is simply an exercise of algebraic substitution and simplification.

Examples of How to Compose Functions


Example 1: Perform the indicated function composition:

The order of composition is important. Notice that in , we want function g (x) to be the
input of the main function f (x).
It should look like this:

I start by writing down the main or outer function f (x) , and in every instance of “x“, I will
substitute the full value of g (x).
Then, I’ll do whatever is needed to simplify the expressions such as squaring the binomial,
applying the distributive property, and combining like terms. Other than that, there’s really
nothing much to it.

Let me show you what I meant by that.


Example 2: Perform the indicated function composition:

I need to find the composite function which means function “ f ” is the input of function
” g “.

Example 3: Perform the indicated function composition:

This is an example of function composition where the input is a square root function. Let’s see
how it works out.
Again, in we want to evaluate function ” g ” into the function “ f “.
Example 4: Perform the indicated function composition:

This composition of function is quite interesting. You can maybe see that we will have a
situation where a square root function goes inside another square root function.

The key to correctly compose this function is to recognize that the square root symbol can be

expressed as an exponential expression with fractional exponent equaling to . Thus, we

have and .
Example 5: Perform the indicated function composition:

So far in our previous examples, we have performed function compositions using two distinct
functions. However, it is also possible to compose a function with itself.
Example 6: Perform the indicated function composition:

Let us work out an example of function composition that deals with rational functions. The
algebra involved is a bit tedious, however, you should be okay as long as you are careful in
simplifying the expressions in every step of the way.

In this example, you will apply the procedures on how to add or subtract rational expressions,
and also on how to multiply rational expressions.

Here we go…
That wasn’t too bad, right?

Example 7: Perform the indicated function composition:

If you think the last example on rational functions composition was messy, wait till you see this
next example. It can be a bit messier but still very manageable. So don’t fret! Always have that
“laser” focus in every simplification process in order to successfully work this out correctly.
The input function ” f ” will be substituted into every “x” of the main function ” g “.
That was easy, wasn’t it?

For more practice, I suggest that you try reversing the order of function composition. In other
words, find .

Do you also get ?

If that’s the case where , then we conclude that functions ” g ” and ” f ” are
inverses of each other. I have a separate tutorial on how to prove or verify if two functions are
inverse of each other.

Example 8: Find the composite function:

In this example, we are going to compose three functions. Observing the notation of the desired
composite function , we are going to work it out from right to left.

I first need to substitute and simplify function ” h ” into function ” g “, [ g (h)= something ], to
get some new function.
The output from previous step will be substituted further into the main function
” f ” , [ f (something) = desired function ] to obtain the final answer. Symbolically, it looks like
this…

Here we go…

I will start by solving the composition .


The result of becomes the input of f (x).

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