Introductory Concepts

Functions

First Semester, 2023

Department of Mathematics
University of Ghana

1
Outline

1 Introduction - Relations

2 Functions

3 Injective, Surjective, and Bijective Functions

4 Inverse functions

2
Introduction - Relations
Relations

A relation expresses a link between two sets.

Example 1
Consider the marks obtained by 6 students in the MATH 121 AND
MATH 123 end of semester examinations:
121 75 63 87 46 52 15
123 62 71 80 49 45 75
We can write these as a set of ordered pairs:
{(75, 62), (63, 71), (87, 80), (46, 49), (52, 45), (15, 75)}.
We call the first set of values the domain and the second set of
values the co-domain.
3
Relations

Relations can be:

● one-to-one: for instance, each student has a
unique index number.
● one-to-many: for instance, each Ghanaian adult can register up
to 10 SIM cards.
● many-to-one: Multiple students can share one last name
(surname)
● many-to-many: Multiple people can share more than one first
name.
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Functions
Functions

What is a function?
Let X and Y be two sets. A function f from X to Y is a rule
which assigns to each element of X one element of Y .
This means that each object x ∈ X has an image y ∈ Y . We write
f ∶X →Y.
We may also denote the function by x � f (x), or y = f (x).1 This
last notation is very common.

1
The expression f (x) is read ”f of x”, to emphasize that the rule f operates on the variable x
5
What is a Function?

IR 11
f
7370 5)2
2 : >
-

73 5)
.

=
.

x > X
We can represent functions with a diagram as follows: -

-
4- 3 . 5 -3 ,
-1
;
1
,
0
,
0 .

5 .
1
,
#t ...
,

·
(3 s) ( 3 (0 s)]
-

= + 2 9 1
16 12 .
,
,
4 ,
0 0 .
23
, ,
,

( -

3) + (3) (o -

5)
&
Xs
~
=

5) (0 5) ~
I

(3)( -
3)
s
I
+
- ·
o
+
-

&
X + ·
Y2

(a + b) =
a + 2ab + 3

+. Not 2
the

6
Functions

Functions can be one-to-one, or many-to-one. (These are the only

two possibilities).
Example 2
1 The distance function can be used to find the distance between
two real numbers a and b. For instance, when a = 3 and b = 5,
the distance between a and b is 2.
2 Cobb-Douglas production function:

Y = AL↵ K 1−↵

where Y is production, L is labor, K is capital, and A and ↵

are constants. 7
Domain and Range of a Function

Given a function f ∶ X → Y , the domain of f is the set of all

possible inputs: these are the elements of X which have images in
Y.
The set Y is called the co-domain of f .
The range of f is the set of images y in Y .

8
Domain and Range of a Function

Note that the domain and range depend on the function f . Consider the functions
f ∶ R → R given by f (x) = x and g ∶ R → R given by g(x) = 1�x.

9
The Graph of a Function

Suppose f ∶ X → Y is a function. We can represent the operation of f using a

graph:

The graph of f is the subset of the cartesian product X × Y defined as follows:

Graph of f = {(x, f (x))�x ∈ Domain of X}.

We may also write

Graph of f = {(x, y)�y = f (x)and x ∈ Domain of X}.

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The Graph of a Function

In practice, it is common to represent functions pictorially, using a graph.

11
The Graph of a Function

12
Injective, Surjective, and Bijective
Functions
Injective and Surjective Functions

Given a function f ∶ X → Y , we have seen that two objects say x1

and x2 can share the same image.
If f is a function such that each object has a unique image, we say
that f is injective.2
A function f ∶ X → Y is injective if

∀x1 , x2 ∈ X, if f (x1 ) = f (x2 ), then x1 = x2 .

2
We sometimes say f is one-to-one
13
Injective and Surjective Functions

Example 3
Determine which of the following functions are injective:
● f (x) = x3
● g(x) = 1 − x2
● h(x) = 2x + 5
● k(x) = sin x

If we know the graph of a function, we can use the horizontal line

test to find if the function is injective: A function f is injective if
any horizontal line meets the graph of f in at most one point.
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Injective and Surjective Functions

A function f ∶ X → Y is surjective if every element of the codomain

is an image of some object.3 This means that
f is surjective if for all y ∈ Y , there exists x ∈ X such that
f (x) = y.
This means that the range of f equals the codomain of f .

The function f ∶ R → R given by f (x) = x is surjective4 . However

Example 4

the function g ∶ R → R given by g(x) = 1�x is not surjective; there

is no value x such that = 0.
1
3
x
Surjective functions are also called ”onto” functions.
4
this is the identity function
16
Injective and Surjective Functions

We can test if a single variable function is surjective using another

version of the horizontal line test:
A function f is surjective if and only if every horizontal line meets
the graph of f in at least one point.

17
Injective and Surjective Functions

Graph of x3

18
Injective and Surjective Functions

Graph of x3 − x

19
Bijective Functions

A bijective function is one that is both injective and surjective.

When y = f (x) is bijective, we can reverse the operation to obtain
a new function x = g(y). The functions f and g are called inverses
of each other.
Note
If a function f is injective but not surjective, we can restrict the
codomain so that f becomes surjective.
If a function g is surjective but not injective, we can restrict the
domain so that g becomes injective.

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Composition of Functions

The range of a function f can be used as the domain of another

function g.
This is because the output of f can become inputs for another
function. This is known as composition of functions.

21
Composition of Functions

Note the order of composition is from right to left. Given g ○ f , we

first apply f , then apply g. Given f ○ g, we first apply g, then we
apply f . In general, f ○ g ≠ g ○ f .5

Find f ○ g and g ○ f for the following pairs of functions

Example 5

f (x) = x2 , g(x) = 2x − 1
√
1

2 f (x) = x, g(x) = x + 3
3 f (x) = 1
x+1 , g(x) = 1
x

5
The order of composition matters!
22
Inverse functions
Inverse Functions

Let X and Y be sets. The identity functions IX and IY are defined

respectively by

IX ∶ X → X, IX (x) = x, and
IY ∶ Y → Y, IY (y) = y
We can denote the identity function by IdX or 1X .
Suppose f ∶ X → Y is a bijective function. Then there exists a
unique function g ∶ Y → X such that g ○ f = 1X and f ○ g = 1Y .

23
Inverse Functions

The function g is called the inverse function of f .6

We denote the inverse function of f by f −1 .

Note that f −1 (x) DOES NOT EQUAL

1
f (x)
!

For a bijective function f ∶ R → R, the functional equations

f ○ f −1 = 1R and f −1 ○ f = 1R can be rewritten as

f (f −1 (x)) = x and f −1 (f (x)) = x.

6
Note that f is also the inverse of g.
24
Inverse Functions

√
f (x) = x3 and g(x) = 3
x

25
Inverse Functions

f (x) = ex and g(x) = ln(x)

26
Finding Inverses

There is a straightforward procedure for finding inverses of simple

linear and rational functions: Given a function y = f (x):
● Interchange y and x in the equation, giving the new equation
x = f (y)
● Solve for y in terms of x. This gives the equation y = g(x).
● Rewrite the function g as the inverse function f −1
● Check that (f ○ f −1 )(x) = x and (f −1 ○ f )(x) = x.

27
Finding Inverses

Example 6
Find the inverse of the following functions:
1 f (x) = 3x + 1

f (x) =
1
x−1
2

1+x
3 f (x) =
x
f (x) = 1 −
1
1+x
4 .

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