COLEGIO DE SAN FRANCISCO JAVIER OF RIZAL,

ZAMBOANGA DEL NORTE, INC.

MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD

II. SPEAKING MATHEMATICALLY

Module 5 Variables
The Language of Sets
THE LANGUAGE OF RELATIONS AND
FUNCTIONS

CONTENT DISCUSSION
The Language of Relations and Functions

There are many kinds of relationships in the world. For instance, we say that two people are related by blood if they share
a common ancestor and that they are related by marriage if one shares a common ancestor with the spouse of the other. We also
speak of the relationship between student and teacher, between people who work for the same employer, and between people who
share a common ethnic background.
Similarly, the objects of mathematics may be related in various ways. A set A may be said to be related to a set B if A is a
subset of B, or if A and B have at least one element in common. A number x may be said to be related to a number y if x < y, or if x
is a factor of y, or if x 2 + y2 = 1. Two identifiers in a computer program may be said to be related if they have the same first eight
characters, or if the same memory location is used to store their values when the program is executed. And the list could go on!
Let A = {0, 1, 2,} and B = {1, 2, 3} and let us say that an element x in A is related to an element y in B if, and only if, x is
less than y. let us use the notation x R y as a shorthand for the sentence “x is related to y.” then

0 R1 since 0 < 1,
0 R2 since 0 < 2,
0 R3 since 0 < 3,
1R2 since 1< 2,
1R3 since 1 < 3,
2 R3 since 2 < 3,

on the other hand, of the notation x R y represents the sentence “x is not related to y,” then

1R1 since 1<1 ,

2 R1 since 2<1 ,
2 R2 since 2<2 ,

The formal mathematical definition of relation, based on this idea, was introduced by the American mathematician and logician C.S.
Peirce in the nineteenth century.
Let A and B be sets. A relation R from A to B is a subset of A × B .
Relation Given an ordered pair (x, y) in A × B , x is related to y by R , written
x R y if, and only if, (x, y) is in R . The set A is called the domain of R
and the set B is called its co-domain.

A relation is any set of ordered pairs. The set of all first coordinates (x-coordinates) is called the domain of
the relation. The set of all second coordinates (y – coordinates) is called the range of the relation.

Representations of Relations
A relation can be expressed using a table, mapping and a graph.

Things to remember in expressing relation using a table, mapping and graph

- Using a table and mapping, list down all x – coordinates in the first column and y – coordinates to the
second column.
- Using a graph, just plot the points on a Cartesian Plane.

A correspondence may be classified as one-to-one, many-to-one or one-to-many. It is one-to-one if every element in

the domain is mapped to a unique element in the range, many-to-one if any two or more elements of the domain are
mapped to the same element in the range; or one-to-many if each element in the domain is mapped to any two or
more elements in the range. See illustration below.
Illustrative Example
Consider the table and mapping diagram below.

Questions to Ponder:
1. What type of correspondence is the mapping? Explain.
2. What type of correspondence is the table? Explain.
Solutions:
1. The mapping diagram is many-to-one because threes students, namely: Faith, Camille, and Ivan are
classmates or belong to the same section Gomez.
2. The table is one-to-one correspondence because one element in the domain (government agency) is
mapped to one and only one element in the range (official website
Domain and Range
It is noted that the domain of a relation is the set of first coordinates while the range is the set of second
coordinates.

Illustrative Example
Consider the sets of ordered pairs below.
Set A: {(3, 4), (4, 5), (5, 6), (6, 7), (7, 8)}
Set B: {(2, 2), (2, -2), (3, 3), (3, -3), (4, 4), (4, -4)}

Questions to Ponder.
1. What is the domain of each set of ordered pairs?
2. What is the range of each set of ordered pairs?
3. What type of correspondence is each set of ordered pairs? Explain.
Solutions:
1. The domain of set A is {3, 4, 5, 6, 7} set B {2, 3, 4}
2. The range of set A is {4, 5, 6, 7, 8} set B {-4, -3, -2, 2, 3, 4}
3. Correspondence in Set A is one-to-one, set B is one-to-many
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As we continue to explore relationships between quantities, you will see that there is a special kind
of relation called function. The concept of function is one of the big ideas in all mathematics.

A function is a special type of relation. It is a relation in which every element in the domain is mapped to
exactly one element in the range. Furthermore, a set of ordered pairs is a function if no two ordered pairs
have equal abscissas. A one-to-one and many-to-one corresponding are obviously a function while a one-to-
many is not since a value of x is mapped to more than one value of y.

Note: All functions are relations but some relations are not functions.

Through plotting points, you will also be able to generalize that a graph is that of a function if every vertical
line intersects it in at most one point.

The Vertical Line Test

If every vertical line intersects the graph no more than once, the graph represents a function.

Examples:

Numbers 1 & 3 represent a function by using the vertical line test it only intersects to one point. However,
numbers 4 & 5 does not represent a function by using a vertical line test it intersects to more than one
point. You may refer to pages 265 -266 for more illustrations of the concept.

Function Notation
The f(x) notation can also be used to define a function. If f is a function, the symbol f(x), read as “f of x” is
used to denote the value of the function f at a given value of x. in simpler way, f(x) denoted the y-value
(element of the range) that the function f associates with x-value (element of the domain). Thus f(1)
denotes the value of y at x = 1. Note that f(1) does not mean f times 1. The letters such as g, h and the like
can also denote functions.

Furthermore, every element x in the domain of the function is called the pre-image.
However, every element y or f(x) in the range is called the image. The figure at the
right illustrates concretely the input (the value of x) and the output (the value of
y or f(x)) in the rule or function. It shows that for every value of x there corresponds
one and only one value of y.

Example:
Consider the rule or the function f defined by f(x) = 3x – 1. If f(x) = 2, then the value of the function
would be 5.
Solution:
f(x) = 3x -1 Rule/ Function
f(2) = 3(2) – 1 Substituting x by 2
f(2) = 6 – 1 Simplification
f(2) = 5 Simplification
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The input is 2 (the value of x) and the output is 5 (the value of y or f(x)).
 REFERENCES
Aufmann R. N, et al, Mathematics Excursions 14th Edition

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