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MTH4100 Calculus I: Lecture Notes For Week 2 Thomas' Calculus, Sections 1.3 To 1.5

This document provides lecture notes for Calculus I Week 2. It covers key concepts related to functions including definitions of domain, range, and functional composition. Examples are given of different types of fundamental functions like linear, power, polynomial, rational, and combined functions. Properties of even and odd functions are discussed. The reading assignment is from Thomas' Calculus, Chapter 1.2 on lines, circles, and parabolas.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
208 views13 pages

MTH4100 Calculus I: Lecture Notes For Week 2 Thomas' Calculus, Sections 1.3 To 1.5

This document provides lecture notes for Calculus I Week 2. It covers key concepts related to functions including definitions of domain, range, and functional composition. Examples are given of different types of fundamental functions like linear, power, polynomial, rational, and combined functions. Properties of even and odd functions are discussed. The reading assignment is from Thomas' Calculus, Chapter 1.2 on lines, circles, and parabolas.

Uploaded by

Roy Vesey
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MTH4100 Calculus I

Lecture notes for Week 2

Thomas’ Calculus, Sections 1.3 to 1.5

Rainer Klages

School of Mathematical Sciences


Queen Mary University of London

Autumn 2009
Reading Assignment: read
Thomas’ Calculus, Chapter 1.2:
Lines, Circles, and Parabolas

What is a function?
examples:
height of the floor of the lecture hall depending on distance; stock market index depending
on time; volume of a sphere depending on radius

What do we mean when we say y is a function of x? Symbolically, we write y = f (x),


where

• x is the independent variable (input value of f )

• y is the dependent variable (output value of f at x)

• f is a function (”rule that assigns x to y” – further specify!)

A function acts like a ”little machine”:

Important: There is uniqueness, i.e., we have only one value f (x) for every x!

Definition 1 A function from a set D to a set Y is a rule that assigns a unique (single)
element f (x) ∈ Y to each element x ∈ D.

• The set D of all possible input values is called the domain of f .

• The set R of all possible output values of f (x) as x varies throughout D is called the
range of f .
note: R ⊆ Y !
3

• We write f maps D to Y symbolically as

f :D→Y
• We write f maps x to y = f (x) symbolically as

f : x 7→ y = f (x)

Note the different arrow symbols used!


The natural domain is the largest set of real x which the rule f can be applied to.

examples:

Function Domain x ∈ D Range y ∈ R


2
y =x (−∞, ∞) [0, ∞)
y =√1/x (−∞, 0) ∪ (0, ∞) (−∞, 0) ∪ (0, ∞)
y = √x [0, ∞) [0, ∞)
y = 1 − x2 [−1, 1] [0, 1]

note: A function is specified by the rule f and the domain D:

f : x 7→ y = x2 , D(f ) = [0, ∞)
and
f : x 7→ y = x2 , D(f ) = (−∞, ∞)
are different functions!

Definition 2 If f is a function with domain D, its graph consists of the points (x, y)
whose coordinates are the input-output pairs for f :
{(x, f (x))|x ∈ D}
examples:
4

Given the function, one can sketch the graph.

y = f (x) is the height of the graph above/below x.


recall: A function f can have only one value f (x) for each x in its domain! This leads to
the vertical line test:
No vertical line can intersect the graph of a function more than once.

(a) x2 + y 2 = 1
5

A piecewise defined function is a function that is is described by using different formulas


on different parts of its domain.
examples:

• the absolute value function



x , x≥0
f (x) = |x| =
−x , x < 0

• some other function



 −x , x < 0
f (x) = x2 , 0 ≤ x ≤ 1
1 , x>1

6

• the floor function

f (x) = ⌊x⌋
is given by the greatest integer less than or
equal to x:

⌊1.3⌋ = 1, ⌊−2.7⌋ = −3

• the ceiling function

f (x) = ⌈x⌉
is given by the smallest integer greater than
or equal to x:

⌈3.5⌉ = 4, ⌈−1.8⌉ = −1
7

Some fundamental types of functions


• linear function: f (x) = mx + b
b = 0: all lines pass through the origin, f (x) = mx. One also says “y = f (x) is proportional
to x” for some nonzero constant m.

m = 0: constant function, f (x) = b


8

• power function: f (x) = xa


a = n ∈ N: graphs of f (x) for n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

a = −n , n ∈ N: graphs of f (x) for n = −1, −2


9

a ∈ Q: graphs of f (x) for a = 12 , 31 , 23 , 23

• polynomials: p(x) = an xn + an−1 xn−1 + . . . + a1 x + a0 , n ∈ N0


with coefficients a0 , a1 , . . . , an−1 , an ∈ R and domain R
If the leading coefficient an 6= 0 , n > 0, n is called the degree of the polynomial.
examples: Linear functions with m 6= 0 are polynomials of degree 1.
Three polynomial functions and their graphs:
10

p(x)
• rational functions: f (x) =
q(x)
with p(x) and q(x) polynomials and domain R \ {x|q(x) = 0} (never divide by zero!)
examples: three rational functions and their graphs

• other classes of functions (to come later):


algebraic functions: any function constructed from polynomials using algebraic operations
(including taking roots)
examples:

trigonometric functions
exponential and logarithmic functions
transcendental functions: any function that is not algebraic
examples: trigonometric or exponential functions
...
11

Informally,
• a function is called increasing if the graph of the function “climbs” or “rises” as you
move from left to right.
• a function is called decreasing if the graph of the function “descends” or “falls” as
you move from left to right.
examples:
function where increasing where decreasing
2
y =x 0≤x<∞ −∞ < x ≤ 0
y = 1/x nowhere −∞ < x < 0 and 0 < x < ∞
y = 1/x2 −∞ < x < 0 0<x<∞
y = x2/3 0≤x<∞ −∞ < x ≤ 0

Definition 3 A function y = f (x) is an


even function of x if f (−x) = f (x),
odd function of x if f (−x) = −f (x),
for every x in the function’s domain.
examples:

f (−x) = (−x)2 = x2 = f (x): even function; graph is symmetric about the y-axis

f (−x) = (−x)3 = −x3 = −f (x): odd function; graph is symmetric about the origin
12

1. f (−x) = −x = −f (x): odd function

2. f (−x) = −x + 1 6= f (x) and −f (x) = −x − 1 6= f (−x): neither even nor odd!

Combining functions
If f and g are functions, then for every x ∈ D(f ) ∩ D(g) (that is, for every x that belongs
to the domains of both f and g) we define sums, differences, products and quotients:

(f + g)(x) = f (x) + g(x)


(f − g)(x) = f (x) − g(x)
(f g)(x) = f (x)g(x)
(f /g)(x) = f (x)/g(x) if g(x) 6= 0
algebraic operation on functions = algebraic operation on function values

Special case - multiplication by a constant c ∈ R: (cf )(x) = c f (x) (take g(x) = c constant
function)
examples: combining functions algebraically

√ √
f (x) = x , g(x) = 1−x

(natural) domains:
D(f ) = [0, ∞) D(g) = (−∞, 1]

intersection of both domains:


D(f ) ∩ D(g) = [0, ∞) ∩ (−∞, 1] = [0, 1]
13

function formula domain


√ √
f +g (f + g)(x) = x + √1 − x [0, 1] = D(f ) ∩ D(g)

f −g (f − g)(x) = √x − 1 − x [0, 1]

g−f (g − f )(x) = 1 − x − px [0, 1]
f ·g (f · g)(x) = f (x)g(x) = x(1 − x) [0, 1]
f f (x) p x
f /g g
(x) = g(x)
= [0, 1) (x = 1 excluded)
q 1−x
g g(x)
g/f f
(x) = f (x) = 1−x x
(0, 1] (x = 0 excluded)

Definition 4 (Composition of functions) If f and g are functions, the composite func-


tion f ◦ g (“f composed with g”) is defined by

(f ◦ g)(x) = f (g(x))

The domain of f ◦ g consists of the numbers x in the domain of g for which g(x) lies in the
domain of f , i.e.
D(f ◦ g) = {x|x ∈ D(g) and g(x) ∈ D(f )}

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