Functions

Section Summary
• Definition of a Function.
• Domain, Cdomain
• Image, Preimage
• Injection, Surjection, Bijection
• Inverse Function
• Function Composition
• Graphing Functions
• Floor, Ceiling, Factorial
• Partial Functions (optional)
Functions
Definition: Let A and B be nonempty sets. A function f from A to B,
denoted f: A → B is an assignment of each element of A to exactly
one element of B. We write f(a) = b if b is the unique element of B
assigned by the function f to the element a of A.
• Functions are sometimes Students Grades
called mappings or A
Carlota Rodriguez
transformations. B
Sandeep Patel C

Jalen Williams D
F
Kathy Scott
Functions
• A function f: A → B can also be defined as a subset of A×B (a
relation). This subset is restricted to be a relation where no two
elements of the relation have the same first element.
• Specifically, a function f from A to B contains one, and only one
ordered pair (a, b) for every element a∈ A.

and
 A (Domain)
B (Co-domain)
a (Pre-image)
Functions b (image)

Given a function f: A → B:
• We say f maps A to B or
f is a mapping from A to B.
• A is called the domain of f.
• B is called the codomain of f.
• If f(a) = b,
• then b is called the image of a under f.
• a is called the preimage of b.
• The range of f is the set of all images of points in A under f. We denote it by f(A).
• Two functions are equal when they have the same domain, the same codomain
and map each element of the domain to the same element of the codomain.
Representing Functions
• Functions may be specified in different ways:
• An explicit statement of the assignment.
Students and grades example.
• A formula.
f(x) = x + 1
• A computer program.
• A Java program that when given an integer n, produces the nth Fibonacci Number
(covered in the next section and also inChapter 5).
Questions

f(a) = ? z A B
a
The image of d is ? z x
b
The domain of f is ? A y
c
The codomain of f is ? B
d z
The preimage of y is ? b
f(A) = ?
The preimage(s) of z is (are) ? {a,c,d}
Question on Functions and Sets
• If and S is a subset of A, then

A B
a
f {a,b,c,} is ? {y,z}
x

b
f {c,d} is ? {z} y
c

d z
Injections
Definition: A function f is said to be one-to-one , or injective, if and
only if f(a) = f(b) implies that a = b for all a and b in the domain of f. A
function is said to be an injection if it is one-to-one.

A B
a x

v
b
y
c
z
d

w
Surjections
Definition: A function f from A to B is called onto or surjective, if and
only if for every element there is an element with
. A function f is called a surjection if it is onto.

Range = Co-domain A B
a x

b
y
c
z
d
Bijections
Definition: A function f is a one-to-one correspondence, or a bijection,
if it is both one-to-one and onto (surjective and injective).

A B
a x

b
y
c

d z

w
Showing that f is one-to-one or onto
Showing that f is one-to-one or onto
Example 1: Let f be the function from {a,b,c,d} to {1,2,3} defined by
f(a) = 3, f(b) = 2, f(c) = 1, and f(d) = 3. Is f an onto function?
Solution: Yes, f is onto since all three elements of the codomain are
images of elements in the domain. If the codomain were changed to
{1,2,3,4}, f would not be onto.
Example 2: Is the function f(x) = x2 from the set of integers onto?
Solution: No, f is not onto because there is no integer x with x2 = −1,
for example.
Inverse Functions
Definition: Let f be a bijection from A to B. Then the inverse of f,
denoted , is the function from B to A defined as
No inverse exists unless f is a bijection. Why?
Inverse Functions

A f
B A B
a V V
a

b b
W W
c c

d X X
d

Y Y
Questions
Example 1: 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. Is f invertible and if so what is its inverse?

Solution: The function f is invertible because it is a

one-to-one correspondence. The inverse function f-1
reverses the correspondence given by f, so f-1 (1) = c,
f-1 (2) = a, and f-1 (3) = b.
Questions
Example 2: Let f: Z 🡪 Z be such that f(x) = x + 1. Is f invertible, and if
so, what is its inverse?

Solution: The function f is invertible because it is a

one-to-one correspondence. The inverse function f-1
reverses the correspondence so f-1 (y) = y – 1.
Questions
Example 3: Let f: R → R be such that . Is f invertible, and
if so, what is its inverse?

Solution: The function f is not invertible because it is

not one-to-one .
Composition
• Definition: Let f: B → C, g: A → B. The composition of f with g,
denoted is the function from A to C defined by
Composition
g f
A B C A C
V a
a h h
b i b
W i
c
c
X j
d
d j
Y
Composition
Example 1: If and , then

and
Composition Questions
Example 2: 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 f∘g is defined by
f∘g (a)= f(g(a)) = f(b) = 2.
f∘g (b)= f(g(b)) = f(c) = 1.
f∘g (c)= f(g(c)) = f(a) = 3.
Note that g∘f is not defined, because the range of f is not a subset of the
domain of g.
Composition Questions
Example 2: Let f and g be 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, and also the composition of g and
f?
Solution:
f∘g (x)= f(g(x)) = f(3x + 2) = 2(3x + 2) + 3 = 6x + 7
g∘f (x)= g(f(x)) = g(2x + 3) = 3(2x + 3) + 2 = 6x + 11
Graphs of Functions
• Let f be a function from the set A to the set B. The graph of the
function f is the set of ordered pairs {(a,b) | a ∈A and f(a) = b}.

Graph of f(n) = 2n + 1 Graph of f(x) = x2

from Z to Z from Z to Z
Some Important Functions
• The floor function, denoted

is the largest integer less than or equal to x.

• The ceiling function, denoted

is the smallest integer greater than or equal to x

Example:
Floor and Ceiling Functions

Graph of (a) Floor and (b) Ceiling Functions

Floor and Ceiling Functions
Proving Properties of Functions
Example: Prove that x is a real number, then
⌊2x⌋= ⌊x⌋ + ⌊x + 1/2⌋
Solution: Let x = n + ε, where n is an integer and 0 ≤ ε< 1.
Case 1: ε < ½
• 2x = 2n + 2ε and ⌊2x⌋ = 2n, since 0 ≤ 2ε< 1.
• ⌊x + 1/2⌋ = n, since x + ½ = n + (1/2 + ε ) and 0 ≤ ½ +ε < 1.
• Hence, ⌊2x⌋ = 2n and ⌊x⌋ + ⌊x + 1/2⌋ = n + n = 2n.
Case 2: ε≥½
• 2x = 2n + 2ε = (2n + 1) +(2ε − 1) and ⌊2x⌋ =2n + 1, since 0 ≤ 2 ε -
1< 1.
• ⌊x + 1/2⌋ = ⌊ n + (1/2 + ε)⌋ = ⌊ n + 1 + (ε – 1/2)⌋ = n + 1 since 0≤ε–
1/2< 1.
• Hence, ⌊2x⌋ = 2n + 1 and ⌊x⌋ + ⌊x + 1/2⌋ = n + (n + 1) = 2n + 1.
Factorial Function
Definition: f: N → Z+ , denoted by f(n) = n! is the product of the first n
positive integers when n is a nonnegative integer.

f(n) = 1 ∙ 2 ∙∙∙ (n – 1) ∙ n, f(0) = 0! = 1

Examples:
f(1) = 1! = 1 Stirling’s Formula:

f(2) = 2! = 1 ∙ 2 = 2

f(6) = 6! = 1 ∙ 2 ∙ 3∙ 4∙ 5 ∙ 6 = 720

f(20) = 2,432,902,008,176,640,000.
Partial Functions (optional)
Definition: A partial function f from a set A to a set B is an
assignment to each element a in a subset of A, called the domain of
definition of f, of a unique element b in B.
• The sets A and B are called the domain and codomain of f, respectively.
• We day that f is undefined for elements in A that are not in the domain of
definition of f.
• When the domain of definition of f equals A, we say that f is a total function.
Example: f: N → R where f(n) = √n is a partial function from Z to R
where the domain of definition is the set of nonnegative integers.
Note that f is undefined for negative integers.