Discrete Structures

Functions
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Set:
• A set is an unordered collection of objects.
• The objects in a set are called the elements, or
members, of the set.

Example:
• A = { a, b, c, d}
• B = {1, 3, 5, 9}

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Subset
• The set 𝐴 is said to be a subset of 𝐵 if and only if every
element of 𝐴 is also an element of 𝐵.
• We use the notation 𝐴⊆𝐵 to indicate that 𝐴 is a subset
of the se𝑡 𝐵.

Proper Subset:
• The set 𝐴 is a subset of the set 𝐵 but that 𝐴≠ 𝐵,
• We write 𝐴⊂𝐵
• and say that 𝐴 is a 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐭 of 𝐵.
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Power Set:
• The set of all subsets.
• If the set is 𝑆. The power set of 𝑆 is denoted by 𝑃( 𝑆).
• The number of elements in the power set is

Example:
• 𝑆 = {1, 2, 3}

• 𝑃(𝑆) = {∅, {1}, {2} ,{3},{1, 2},{1, 3},{2, 3}, {1, 2, 3}}

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Cartesian Products:
• Let 𝐴 and 𝐵 be sets.
• The Cartesian product of 𝐴 and 𝐵, denoted by 𝐴×𝐵, is
the set of all ordered pairs (𝑎, 𝑏),where 𝑎 ∈ 𝐴 and 𝑏
∈ 𝐵. Hence, 𝐴×𝐵= {(𝑎, 𝑏) | 𝑎 ∈ 𝐴 ∧ 𝑏 ∈ 𝐵}.

Example
• Let 𝐴 ={1, 2} ,and 𝐵 = {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐}
• 𝐴×𝐵= {(1, 𝑎),(1, 𝑏), (1, 𝑐), (2, 𝑎), (2, 𝑏), (2, 𝑐)}.
• =2∗3=6.
• B×A= {(a, 1),(a, 2), (b, 1), (b, 2), (c, 1), (c, 2)}. 5
 Function
Let X and Y be nonempty sets. A function 𝑓 from X to Y is an
assignment of exactly one element of Y to each element of X.
• 𝑓() = y: if y is the unique element of Y assigned by the function 𝑓
to the element x of X.
• If 𝑓 is a function from X to Y, we write 𝑓: X→Y

Example:

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Arrow Diagrams

Domain Co-domain

Pre-image image

Range: all images of

the set A

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Example:

2 , 6 is not in the range where it is

not image of any element of A

( 3 is image of b)
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One-to-One function (injective):

5 elements in domain corresponding to different 5

elements in Co-domain.
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Onto function (surjective) All elements of the co-domain must be taken.
• A function f from X to Y is called onto, or surjective, if
and only if for every element y ∈ Y there is an element x
∈ X with f(x) = y.

Example:

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Example:

All values

The actually values taken

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One-to-one correspondence (bijection)
• The function f is a one-to-one correspondence, or a
bijection, if it is both one-to-one and onto.
injective surjective
Example All elements of the
co-domain are taken.

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Example:

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Example:

Example:

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Examples:

√
All elements of B
are taken.

√
√

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Example:

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• Determine whether the function 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 + 1 from
Example:

the set of integers to the set of integers is one-to-one.

𝑓(𝑎) = 𝑎 + 1 and 𝑓(𝑏) = 𝑏 + 1

Solution:

𝑓(𝑥) is one−to−one (if 𝑓(𝑎) = 𝑓(𝑏) and a equal b

𝑎+1=𝑏+1
then).

𝑎=𝑏
f(x) is one to one:

∴𝑓(𝑥) is one−to−one
if
f(a) = value
f(b) = the same value
then
a=b

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Example:
• Determine whether the function 𝑓(𝑥) = from the set of
integers to the set of integers is one-to-one.
Solution:
𝑓(𝑎) = and 𝑓(𝑏) =
𝑓(𝑥) is one−to−one (if 𝑓(𝑎) =𝑓(𝑏) and a equal b then).
=
±𝑎 = ±𝑏
𝑎 may be not equal 𝑏
𝑓(𝑥) is NOT one−to−one

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Inverse Functions:
• Let f be a one-to-one correspondence ( bijection ) from
the set A to the set B. The inverse function of f is the
function that assigns to an element b belonging to B the
unique element a in A such that 𝑓(𝑎) = 𝑏. The inverse
function of f is denoted by . Hence, (𝑏) = 𝑎 when
𝑓(𝑎)=𝑏.

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Invertible:
• A one-to-one correspondence is called invertible
because we can define an inverse of this function.
• A function is not invertible if it is not a one-to-one
correspondence, because the inverse of such a function
does not exist.

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Example:
• Let f be the function from {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐} to {1, 2, 3}such that
𝑓(𝑎) = 2, 𝑓(𝑏) = 3, and 𝑓(𝑐) = 1.
1 - Is 𝑓 invertible ?
2 - and if it is, what is its inverse ?

Solution
The function 𝑓is invertible because it is a one-to-one
correspondence.
The inverse function reverses the correspondence given by 𝑓,
so

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Composition of the Functions f and g
• Let g be a function from the set 𝐴 to the set 𝐵
and
• let f be a function from the set 𝐵 to the set 𝐶.
• The composition of the functions f and g, denoted by
𝑓∘g, is defined by (𝑓∘g)(𝑎)=𝑓(g(𝑎)).
Note : that the composition f ∘ g cannot be defined unless the
range of g is a subset of the domain of f .

Range of g ⊂ the domain of f

Range of g

Co-domain of function g
and example
Domain of function f B ={ a , b , c } (domain)
F(d) undefined
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Example:
• Let g be the function from the set {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐} to itself such
that g(a) = b, g(b) = c, and g(c) = a. Let f be the
function from the set {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐}to the set {1, 2, 3} such that
f(a) = 3 , f(b) = 2 , and f(c) = 1. What is the composition
of f and g, and what is the composition of g and f ?
Solution:
g f

a a 1
(f ∘ g)(a) = 2
b b 2
g(a) = b
f(g(a)) = f(b) = 2
c c 3

Range of g ⊂ the domain of f

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Example:
• Let g be the function from the set {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐} to itself such
that g(a) = b, g(b) = c, and g(c) = a. Let f be the
function from the set {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐}to the set {1, 2, 3} such that
f(a) = 3 , f(b) = 2 , and f(c) = 1. What is the composition
of f and g, and what is the composition of g and f ?

Solution:

The composition of f and g means (f ∘ g)

(f∘g)(a) = 2, (f∘g)(b) = 1, (f∘g)(c) = 3
.

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Example:
• Let g be the function from the set {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐} to itself such
that g(a) = b, g(b) = c, and g(c) = a. Let f be the
function from the set {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐}to the set {1, 2, 3} such that
f(a) = 3 , f(b) = 2 , and f(c) = 1. What is the composition
of f and g, and what is the composition of g and f ?
Solution:
f g

a 1 a a

b 2 b b

c 3 c c

Range of f ⊄ the domain of g

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Example:
• Let g be the function from the set {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐} to itself such
that g(a) = b, g(b) = c, and g(c) = a. Let f be the
function from the set {𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐}to the set {1, 2, 3} such that
f(a) = 3 , f(b) = 2 , and f(c) = 1. What is the composition
of f and g, and what is the composition of g and f ?

Solution:

The composition of g and f, ( g ∘ f ) cannot be defined

because the range of f is NOT a subset of the domain of g.

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Example:
Let f and g be the functions from the set of integers to
the set of integers defined by f(x) = 2x + 3 and
g(x) = 3x + 2. What is the composition of f and g? What
is the composition of g and f ?
Solution:
1) The composition of f and g ( f ∘ g)
( f∘g )(x) = = 2(3𝑥 + 2) + 3= 6𝑥 + 7
2) The composition of g and f ( g ∘ f)
( g∘f )(x) = = 3(2𝑥+3) + 2 = 6𝑥 + 11

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