Function, domain, co-domain, and range

A function is a special kind of relation in which each element in the domain is related to exactly
one element in the range. In life, a mother to children relation cannot be a function since one
mother can be related to many children. However, a children to mother relation is a function
since each child in the set of children can only have one mother in the set of mothers.

We can see from the above paragraph that for a relation to be a function, the relation must

 be defined on each and every element of the domain set i.e. no element must be left out
 every element in the domain set must be mapped to a unique element i.e. exactly one
element
Thus no two ordered pairs have the same first element. Figure 3.5 illustrates a relation that is
a function.

Definition: Function
Let X and Y be sets. A function, f , is a rule which assigns to each x  X exactly one element
y  Y , denoted f (x) . Thus if f : X  Y is a function, then we can define a relation from X

to Y by xRy if and only if y  f ( x) .

The element f ( x)  Y is called the value of f at x and the symbol f (x) is read as ‘eff of x’.
y  f ( x)  Y is also called the image of x and x  X is called a pre image of y. If we consider

Figure 3.5, we can say that

 7 is a pre image of v, thus v is an image of 7

 10 is a pre image of z, and z is an image of 10
 u and w do not have pre-images
Our definition of a function may be represented diagrammatically as in Figure 3.6.
 Figure 3.1: A general diagrammatic representation of a function

We can also represent the function from X to Y symbolically as

f : X 
Y or X 
f
Y

Domain: We call the set from which the function ‘originates’ the domain of function. And
since the value of image (e.g. y or f ( x) ) is depending on the value of its pre-image (e.g. x),
we call the image, Y, the dependent variable while the X, the independent variable.

We can therefore define the domain, D, as the set D  x  X f ( x)  y  Y 

Range: Suppose f : X  Y , then the range, R, of f is the set R=  f ( x) : x  X  . In other

words, the range of f is the set consisting of all images of f.

Example 3.5

Suppose f ( x)  3x  2 and g ( x)  x  x . Find each of the following:

2

a) f (2) c)  3
f 1 e) g (1)  f (2)

g (3)
b) g (3) d)
f (2)
Solution

a) Note that the rule here says “multiply by 3 then subtract 2”, so that f (2) means
multiply 2 by 3 and then subtract 2 from the result. This is easily evaluated by putting
2 where ever there is an x as shown below
f (2)  3  (2)  2  6  2  8
 f (2)  8
 b) Again, where there is x in the function g ( x)  x  x put 3 . So we have
2

g (3)  3  (3) 2  3  9  12

 g (3)  12

  1
c) Similarly, f 13  3   2  1  2  1
3

f 1  3   1
g (3) 12
d) Since g (3)  12 and f (2)  3  2  2  4 , then   3
f (2) 4
g (3)
  3
f (2)

e) Since g (1)  1  1  1  1  0 and f (2)  4 , then g (1)  f (2)  0  4  4

2

 g (1)  f (2)  4

Example 3.7
State whether each of the following relations is a function or not:
a) c)

b) d)

Solution
a) It is not a function (because a  X does not have an image in Y or a  X is not a pre-
image of any element in Y )
b) It is a function (because every element of X has a unique image in Y )
 c) It is not a function (because d  X has more than one images in Y i.e. does not have
a unique image in Y )
d) It is a function (because every element of X has a unique image in Y )

Example 3.9
Find the domain of each of the following functions

a) f ( x)  x 2
1
b) f ( x) 
x2

c) g ( x)   5  x

Solution
a) We want to find a set of real numbers whose images can be evaluated using the function
or rule f ( x)  x 2
Since we can multiply any real number by itself i.e. squaring, any real number will
have an image.  Domain is the whole set of real numbers, R i.e. D  x x  R

b) Since division by any real number except 0 is possible, then any value of x will be in
the domain except when x  2  0 i.e. x  2
Thus, D  x  R x  2 [i.e. set of all real numbers except 2]

c) Since the function is defined over R, we can only take the square root of a positive
number. The domain of this function will consist of all x values for which 5  x is
either zero or greater than 0.
Thus, 5  x  0,   x  5  x  5
 the function is defined as long as x less than or equal to 5
Thus the domain of g ( x) is the set D  x x  5

Example 3.10
Let f : N  R be defined by f : n 
 2n  1 . Find the range of f.
Solution
We note that the range, which is just the set of all images of the function, can easily be found
by evaluating f (1), f (2), f (3), f (4), f (5),... since N  1,2,3,4,5,.......
Given that f (n)  2n  1 , f (1)  2 1  1  1 , f (2)  2  2  1  3 , f (3)  2  3  1  5 ,

f (4)  7 , f (5)  9 etc. Thus, the range of f is the set 1,3,5, 7,... i.e. the set of odd natural

numbers. Or directly using the definition, we can write

Range = R  f (n) n  N   2n  1 n  N   1, 3, 5, 7, ........., the set of odd natural numbers.

Example 3.11

Let g : R  R be defined by g ( x)  x . Find the range of g .

2

Solution

 
The range of g is the set R  g ( x) x  R x 2 x  R since g ( x)  x .
2

Note that the square of any real number is either zero or greater than zero for all x  R , the
range = R  0 , the set of positive real numbers.

Activity 3b

1. Suppose f ( x)  2 x  1 and g ( x)  x  10 . Find the following:

2

a) f (1) (b) g (3) (c) f (1  t )

2. Which of the following are functions:
a) y  2 x  1 b) f  x   x2  1

3. For each of the following functions, find the images of 2, 0 and x  1 :
1 x
a) f ( x)  ( x  1)( x  3) b) g ( x) 
1  2x
4. Which of the following relations represent functions?
a) c)

Figure a: X to Y relation Figure c: X to Y relation

b) d)
 Figure b: X to Y relation Figure d: X to Y relation

5. Find the domain of the following functions defined over a certain subset of :
2 1
a) f  x  e) f  x  
x2 x
x 1 1
b) g  x   f) f  x  
2x 1  x  2  x  3
5
c) h  x   g) f  x    x  2
x  x6
2

1 x
d) f ( x)  3 x  8 h) g ( x) 
x  2a
2x 1
6. The domain of the function f  x   is 0, 2, 4 , find the range of the function.
x 1
7. If the range of the function g ( x)  x  2 is 2, 1, 7 , find the domain of the function.
2

8. Write the domain and range for each of the following functions

a) 1,1 ,  0,0 ,  2, 2 ,  1, 1

b)  Taonga, EBS2 ,  Yebo, EBS1 ,  Yankho, EBS2 ,  Takondwa, EBS3
 1   1   1   1   1  
c)  3,  ,  5,  ,  9,  , 13,  , 15,  
 3   3   3   3   3  
d)
 Figure 3.2: Student to program mapping

9. A real estate broker charges a commission of 6% on any sales valued up to K500,000. He

further negotiates that if he makes sales of more than K500,000, his commission should be
K60,000.00 plus 4% of the sales price.
a) Express the commission earned as a function, C (x)
b) Find the amount of commission he earned if he sold property worth
i. K400,000
ii. K700,000.00

10. Find the range of the function given its domain in each of the following cases
a) g ( x)  3x  10, x 1, 2,1,5,7

b) h(t )  t 2  t  2, t 1, 2,3, 4,5

c) f ( x)  x 2  1, x 