Mapping or Functions

Arijit Mitra
Let A and B be two non-empty sets. If there exists a rule or correspondence f, which associates to each element x of A, a
unique element y to B, then f is called a mapping or function of A in to B. The mapping of A in to B is denoted by symbol,

f: x → y (read as f maps x in to y)

or f: A → B (read as f maps A in to B or f is a function from A to B)

The element of the set B corresponding to the element x of A obtained by the rule f is denoted by f (x). Thus, if the rule f
determines y  B when x  A, then we shall have,

y = f (x)

Here y is called the f-image of x or the image of x under f or the value of the function at x and x is called the argument or
pre-image of f (x) or y under the mapping f.

• The set A is called the domain of the function f (x) while the set B is called the co-domain of the mapping f.

• The set {f (x)} of all f-images of elements of A is called the range of the mapping or image set of A under f and is denoted
by f (A).
Example 1 (Co-domain and Range are same)

•Let A = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, B = {5, 8, 11, 14, 17} and f : A → B be given by,

•y = f (x) = 3x – 1, where x  A and y  B

•Since f (x) = 3x – 1, hence f (2) = 3.2 -1 = 5 i.e., the element 2 of set A is associated with the element 5 of the set B.

•Again, f (3) = 3.3 – 1 = 8, f (4) = 3.4 – 1 = 11, f (5) = 3.5 – 1 = 14 and f (6) = 3.6 – 1 = 17

Thus, the elements 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of set A are associated with the respective elements 5, 8, 11, 14 and 17 of set B.
Therefore, by the rule f, each element of the set A can be associated with a unique element of the set B. Hence, f defines a
mapping from the set A in to the set B i.e., f (x) = 3x – 1 represents a function whose domain is the set A and range is the set
B. The figure 1 represents the same thing in a picture.
Example 2 (Co-domain and range are different)

•Let X = {-1, -2, 2, 3}; Y = {1, 2, 5, 10, 17} and f : x → y be given by y = f (x) = x 2 + 1, where,

•x  X , y  Y

•We have, f (-1) = (-1)2 + 1 = 2, f (-2) = (-2)2 + 1 = 5, f (2) = 22 + 1 = 5 and f (3) = 32 + 1 = 10

•Clearly by rule f, each element of X can be associated with a unique element of Y. Hence, f defines a mapping from the x
in to the set Y i.e., f (x) = x2 + 1 defines a function whose domain is the set X and range is f (X) = {f (x): x  X} = {2, 5,
10}

•Diagrammatic representation of domain, co-domain and range of the function f (x) of this example is given below.
What is NOT a function?
Types of Function
• One to one mapping / Many to one mapping
• Injective / Surjective / Bijective mapping
• Into mapping / onto mapping

Overlap among these categories:

Categories of Function:

• One to One is Injective mapping 1. Into Function

• One to one into (Injective Function)
• Onto mapping is surjective mapping • Many to one into function
• One to One onto function is bijective mapping 2. Onto function (Surjective Function)
• One to One onto (bijective function)
• Into mapping maybe One to One or Many to One • Many to One onto function
• Into Mapping: A mapping or function f: A → B is said to be into mapping, if there exists at least one element in B which has no
pre-image in A. In other words, f: A → B is called a mapping of A into B, if the image set of A under f (i.e., range of mapping) is a
proper subset of B.

a) Injection or One-one into mapping: A mapping or function f: A → B is said to be one-one or injective

mapping or injection, if different elements of A have different images in B.

f(x) = x – 3

We see that different elements of A have different images in

B under mapping f. Therefore, f is one-one mapping.
b) Many – one into mapping: A mapping or function f: A → B is said to be many-one, if two elements of A correspond to the
same image in B through mapping f.

• Example:

• Let A = {-2, 2, -3, 3} and B = {1, 4, 9, 16} and f: A → B be given by f (x) = x 2; show that is a many-one mapping.

• The mapping f: A → B is given by, f (x) = x 2

• f (-2) = 4, f (2) = 4, f (-3) = 9 and f (3) = 9. Clearly each element in A has a unique image in B and hence it is a mapping from A to B.

• We note that the elements -2 and 2 of A have the same image 4 in B; similarly, the elements -3 and 3 of A have the same image 9 in B.
Therefore, it is a many-one mapping.
• Onto Mapping (Surjection): A mapping or function f: A → B is said to be onto-mapping or a surjection, if every
element in B has at least one pre-image in A. In other words, f: A → B is called a mapping of A into B, if the image set of
A under f (i.e., ranging of mapping f) is equal to its co-domain B.

• General diagram of Onto mapping

One to One Onto Mapping (Bijection)

Many to One Onto Mapping

• Constant Mapping or Function
• Identity Mapping or Function
• Equality of two functions or mappings

• Why One to many is NOT a mapping?

Linear Functions:

•The general expression for linear functions is,

•f (x) = a + bx where f (x) is the dependent variable and x is the independent variable. a and b are two constants, which are
called the parameters of the function. The parameter a is the value of f (x) when x is zero and b is the co-efficient of x.

•The graph of a linear function is basically a straight line where the horizontal axis is representing the value of x and the
vertical axis is representing the corresponding value of f (x).

Quadratic Functions:

•The general expression for quadratic function can be written as,

•f (x) = ax2 + bx + c where f (x) is the dependent variable and x is the independent variable. a, b and c are three constants,
which are called the parameters of the function. The parameter c is the value of f (x) when x is zero and a and b are the co-
efficient of x2 and x respectively.

•The graph of a quadratic equation, where the horizontal axis is representing the value of x and the vertical axis is representing
the corresponding value of f (x), is a parabola which is vertical.
Polynomial functions:

•If n is a positive integer and a 0, a1, a2, …………, an are real constants, then the expression,

•P (x) = a0xn + a1xn-1 + a2xn-2 + …………… + an-1x + an is called a polynomial function of degree n in x.

•Example: P (x) = 3x4 – 2x3 + 6x + 5

•The graph of polynomial functions with the power of x is n is a power curve of degree n. If n = 1, it is a straight line and if n = 2, it is
parabola (discussed earlier).

Rational functions:

•The ratio of two polynomial functions is called rational function and is denoted by R (x). If P (x) and Q (x) are two polynomial
functions, then,

•R (x) = P (x) / Q (x) [Where x is real and Q (x) ≠ 0]

•Example: f (x) = (ax + b) / (px + q) [where x ≠ (- q / p)]

Irrational functions:

•An algebraic function which is not rational function is called an irrational function.

•Example: f (x) = √ (2x3 + 5)

Exponential functions:

•If x is real variable, then the functions involving ex (2 < e < 3) and ax are called exponential functions.

Explicit and Implicit functions:

•If the dependent variable (y) can be directly expressed in terms of the independent variable (x), then the function is
said to be explicit. For example, y = 2x3 – 3x + 5

•On the contrary, if the dependent variable (y) cannot be expressed directly in terms of the independent variable (x),
then the function is said to be implicit. Example: ax2 + 2hxy + by2 = c

Bounded functions:

•Let the function y = f (x) be defined in the interval a ≤ x ≤ b. If there exists two real numbers m and M such that
for every x in a ≤ x ≤ b we always have m ≤ f (x) ≤ M, then f (x) is said to be a bounded function.

•Example: For all real values of x, we have, 0 ≤ x2 / (1 + x2) ≤ 1. Therefore,

•f (x) = x2 / (1 + x2) is a bounded function

Monotonic Function:

•Assume that the function y = f (x) is defined in the following interval, a ≤ x ≤ b and a < x 1 <x2 < b

•Then, f (x) is said to be

i) monotonic increasing in a ≤ x ≤ b, if f (x2)  f (x1)

ii) monotonic decreasing in a ≤ x ≤ b, if f (x2) ≤ f (x1)

iii) strictly monotonic increasing in a ≤ x ≤ b, if f (x 2) > f (x1)

iv) strictly monotonic decreasing in a ≤ x ≤ b, if f (x 2) < f (x1)

Even and Odd Functions:

a) A function f (x) is said to be an even function, if f (-x) = f (x)

•Example: Say, f (x) – 2x2 + 5

•f (- x) = 2(-x)2 + 5 = 2x2 + 5 = f (x)

b) A function f (x) is called odd if f (- x) = - f (x)

•Example: f (x) = 3x3 – 5x. Then,

•f (-x) = 3 (-x)3 – 5 (-x) = -3x3 + 5x = - (3x3 – 5x) = -f(x)