MATH1013 Tutorial 1

Functions
• The domain of a function is the set of values of x where f (x) is defined. We take the largest possible set as the
natural domain if the domain is not specified.
• The range of a function is the set of all outputs f (x) when x varies in the domain.

• (f ± g)(x) = f (x) ± g(x) and (f g)(x) = f (x)g(x) are defined when both f and g are defined.
f (x)
• ( fg )(x) = g(x) is defined when both f and g are defined and g(x) 6= 0.

• (f ◦ g)(x) = f [g(x)] is defined when g(x) is defined and g(x) is in the domain of f .

r r r
1 1 1
Example 1. Find the domain of f (x) = · · .
r x + 1r x − 2 rx + 3
1 1 1
Notice that f (x) is defined when all of , , and are defined.
x+1 x−2 x+3
r
1
is defined when x + 1 > 0, that is x > −1.
r x + 1
1
is defined when x − 2 > 0, that is x > 2.
rx − 2
1
is defined when x + 3 > 0, that is x > −3.
x+3
Therefore f (x) is defined when x > −1, x > 2, and x > −3 are all true, it is the same as x > 2.
Hence the domain of f is (2, ∞).
s
1
Example 2. Find the domain of g(x) = .
(x + 1)(x − 2)(x + 3)

Notice that g(x) is defined when (x + 1)(x − 2)(x + 3) > 0.

To solve the inequality, we check the sign of each factors x + 1, x − 2, and x + 3:
x x < −3 −3 −3 < x < −1 −1 −1 < x < 2 2 2<x
x+1 − 0 +
x−2 − 0 +
x+3 − 0 +
(x + 1)(x − 2)(x + 3) − 0 + 0 − 0 +

So g(x) is defined when −3 < x < −1 or 2 < x.

The domain of g is (−3, −1) ∪ (2, ∞).

1
Example 3. State the domain and range of f (x) = |x + 1| + |x − 2| by sketching its graph.
( (
x + 1, if x + 1 ≥ 0 ⇔ x ≥ −1 x − 2, if x − 2 ≥ 0 ⇔ x ≥ 2
Since |x + 1| = and |x − 2| = ,
−x − 1, if x + 1 < 0 ⇔ x < −1 2 − x, if x − 2 < 0 ⇔ x < 2

(x + 1) + (x − 2) = 2x − 1,
 if x ≥ 2
f (x) = |x + 1 + |x − 2| = (x + 1) + (2 − x) = 3, if − 1 ≤ x < 2 .

(−x − 1) + (2 − x) = −2x + 1 if x < −1


y
7

1
x

−4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4
−1

The domain of f is (−∞, ∞) or R.

The range of f is [3, ∞).
x−3 2x + 1
Example 4. Let f (x) = and g(x) = .
x+3 3x − 2
(a) Find the domain and range of f (x).
(b) Find the domain of (f ◦ g)(x).

(a) f (x) is defined when x + 3 6= 0, that is x 6= −3.

The domain of f is (−∞, −3) ∪ (−3, ∞).

To find the range of f , let f (x) = b to see when we can solve x in terms of b:
x−3
=b
x+3
x − 3 = bx + 3b
3b + 3
x=
1−b
 
3b + 3
such an x can be found as long as b 6= 1, such that f = b for any b 6= 1.
1−b
So the range of f is (−∞, 1) ∪ (1, ∞).

(b) (f ◦ g)(x) is defined when g(x) is defined and g(x) is in the domain of f .
2
Notice that g(x) is defined when x 6= .
3
Then, we require g(x) 6= −3 for g(x) being in the domain of f . First by solving g(x) = −3:
2x + 1
= −3
3x − 2
2x + 1 = −9x + 6
5
x=
11
5
so g(x) 6= −3 when x 6= .
11
2 5
Combining, (f ◦ g)(x) is defined when x 6= and x 6= .
3 11
5 5 2 2
The domain of (f ◦ g)(x) is (−∞, ) ∪ ( , ) ∪ ( , ∞).
11 11 3 3

2
Transformation of Graphs
Given the graph of y = f (x).

• The graph of y = f (x) ± c is obtained by shifting the graph vertically.

– upward if c > 0 and downward if c < 0.
• The graph of y = f (x − c) is obtained by shifting the graph horizontally.
– right if c > 0 and left if c < 0.
• The graph of y = cf (x) is obtained by scaling vertically.
– stretching if c > 1 and squeezing if 0 < c < 1.
• The graph of y = f (cx) is obtained by scaling horizontally.
– squeezing if c > 1 and stretching if 0 < c < 1.
• The graph of y = −f (x) is obtained by reflecting vertically across the x-axis.
• The graph of y = f (−x) is obtained by reflecting horizontally across the y-axis.

Example 5. The figure below shows the graph of y = f (x) in blue.

(a) Find the graph of y = f (1 − x).
(b) Find an equation for the graph in red.
4 y
3
2
1
x

−4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4
−1
−2
−3
−4

(a) First transform f (x) to f (x + 1) then transform f (x + 1) to f (−x + 1).

[You can also try transform f (x) to f (−x) then transform f (−x) to f [−(x − 1)].]
4 y 4 y
3 3
2 2
1 1
x x

−4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 −4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4
−1 −1
−2 −2
−3 −3
−4 −4
y = f (x + 1) y = f (−x + 1)

3
(b) It takes several steps to transform to the graph in red, we first scale the graph in blue to get the suitable width
and height, then shift to the required position.
4 y 4 y
3 3
2 2
1 1
x x

−4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 −4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4
−1 −1
−2 −2
−3 −3
−4 −4
y = f ( 12 x) y = 21 f ( 12 x)
4 y 4 y
3 3
2 2
1 1
x x

−4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 −4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4
−1 −1
−2 −2
−3 −3
−4 −4
y = − 12 f ( 12 x) y = − 12 f [ 12 (x + 2)]
4 y

3
2
1
x

−4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4
−1
−2
−3
−4
y= − 12 f [ 12 (x
+ 2)] − 2
1 1 1 x
The equation is y = − f [ (x + 2)] − 2 = − f ( + 1) − 2.
2 2 2 2