Precalculus: The Twelve Basic Functions

y=f HxL=x y=f HxL=x2 y=f HxL=x3

4 4 4

2 2 2

x x x
-4 -2 2 4 -4 -2 2 4 -4 -2 2 4

-2 -2 -2

-4 -4 -4
Identity Function Squaring Function Cubing Function

1
y=f HxL=
x y=f HxL= x y=f HxL=ex
4 4 4

2 2 2

x x x
-4 -2 2 4 -4 -2 2 4 -4 -2 2 4

-2 -2 -2

-4 -4 -4
Inverse Function Square Root Function Exponential Function

y=f HxL=lnHxL y=f HxL=sinHxL y=f HxL=cosHxL

4 4 4

2 2 2

x x x
-4 -2 2 4 -4 -2 2 4 -4 -2 2 4

-2 -2 -2

-4 -4 -4
Natural Logarithmic Function Sine Function Cosine Function

1
y=f HxL=
y=f HxL=ÈxÈ y=f HxL=intHxL 1 + ã-x
4 4 4

2 2 2

x x x
-4 -2 2 4 -4 -2 2 4 -4 -2 2 4

-2 -2 -2

-4 -4 -4
Absolute Value Function Greatest Integer Function Logistic Function

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Precalculus: The Twelve Basic Functions

Concepts: Familiarity with graphs of the 12 Basic Functions, and determining the properties of these functions from
their graphs.

Questions: For the 12 Basic functions, use the sketches to answer the following (we will focus on the algebraic properties
in the coming weeks).

1. Which have domain x ∈ R (another way of saying this is domain is x ∈ (−∞, ∞), or −∞ < x < ∞)?
1
f (x) = x, f (x) = x2 , f (x) = x3 , f (x) = ex , f (x) = sin(x), f (x) = cos(x), f (x) = |x|, f (x) = int(x), f (x) =
1 + e−x

2. Which have domain x ∈ [0, ∞) (domain 0 ≤ x < ∞)?

√
f (x) = x

3. Which have domain x ∈ (0, ∞) (domain 0 < x < ∞)?

f (x) = ln(x)

4. Which have range y ∈ R (range −∞ < y < ∞)?

f (x) = x, f (x) = x3 , f (x) = ln(x)

5. Which have range y ∈ [0, ∞) (range 0 ≤ y < ∞)?

√
f (x) = x2 , f (x) = x, f (x) = |x|

6. Which have range y ∈ (0, ∞) (range 0 < y < ∞)?

None.
7. Which have range y ∈ (−∞, 0) ∪ (0, ∞) (range −∞ < y < 0 union with 0 < y < ∞, which means y ̸= 0)?
1
f (x) =
x

8. Which have range y ∈ (0, 1) (range 0 < y < 1)?

1
f (x) =
1 + e−x

9. Which have vertical asymptotes?

1
f (x) = has a vertical asymptote at x = 0
x

Aside: More formally, we may write:

( )
1
lim+ = ∞ (read “the limit as x approaches 0 from the right of 1/x is infinity”)
x→0 x
( )
1
lim− = −∞ (“the limit as x approaches 0 from the left of 1/x is minus infinity”).
x→0 x
We will talk about these right and left handed limits more in the coming weeks. I am including them here to help us
get comfortable with the notation.

f (x) = ln(x) has a vertical asymptote at x = 0

lim ln(x) = −∞ (read “the limit as x approaches 0 from the right of ln(x) is minus infinity”)
x→0+

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Precalculus: The Twelve Basic Functions

10. Which have horizontal asymptotes?

1
f (x) = has a horizontal asymptote at y = 0
x
( )
1
lim = 0 (read “the limit as x approaches infinity of 1/x is zero”)
x→∞ x
( )
1
lim = 0 (read “the limit as x approaches minus infinity of 1/x is zero”)
x→−∞ x

f (x) = ex has a horizontal asymptote at y = 0

lim (ex ) = 0 (read “the limit as x approaches minus infinity of ex is zero”)

x→−∞

1
f (x) = has a horizontal asymptote at y = 0 and y = 1
1 + e−x
( )
1
lim = 1 (read “the limit as x approaches infinity of 1+e1−x is one”)
x→∞ 1 + e−x
( )
1
lim = 0 (read “the limit as x approaches minus infinity of 1+e1−x is zero”)
x→−∞ 1 + e−x

11. Which have local extrema?

f (x) = x2 has a global minimum of y = 0 at x = 0

√
f (x) = x has a global minimum of y = 0 at x = 0
f (x) = sin(x) has an infinite number of global minimums and maximums
f (x) = cos(x) has an infinite number of global minimums and maximums
f (x) = |x| has a global minimum of y = 0 at x = 0

12. Which are bounded below?

√ 1
f (x) = x2 , f (x) = x, f (x) = ex , f (x) = sin(x), f (x) = cos(x), f (x) = |x|, f (x) =
1 + e−x

13. Which have discontinuities?

1
f (x) = , f (x) = int(x)
x

14. Which are even (f (−x) = f (x) for all x in domain)?

f (x) = x2 , f (x) = cos(x), f (x) = |x|

15. Which are odd (f (−x) = −f (x) for all x in domain)?

1
f (x) = x, f (x) = x3 , f (x) = , f (x) = sin(x)
x

16. Which are increasing over the interval x ∈ (−∞, 0) (increasing for −∞ < x < 0)?
1
f (x) = x, f (x) = x3 , f (x) = ex , f (x) =
1 + e−x

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