1 FUNCTIONS

Functions

Calculus (Latin, calculus, a small stone used for counting) is a branch of mathematics focused on functions, limits, derivatives, integrals, and innite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, dierential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental theorem of calculus. Calculus is the study of change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape and algebra is the study of operations and their application to solving equations. A course in calculus is a gateway to other, more advanced courses in mathematics devoted to the study of functions and limits, broadly called mathematical analysis. Calculus has widespread applications in science, economics, and engineering and can solve many problems for which algebra alone is insucient. In calculus, the notions of limits, dierentiation and integration are introduced and methods for nding solutions to dierential equations are developed. The basic objects we are going to study are functions describing relations between sets of numbers or other mathematical quantities. In particular, if X and Y are two such sets, a function f from the set X to the set Y assigns to each element in X just one element in Y .

Y X x f (x) = y Any x X yY

Figure 1: Function from a set X to a set Y .

1.1

Functions of one real variable

Denition 1. Suppose X and Y are two subsets of R, the set of all real numbers; we write X R; Y R

1 FUNCTIONS y = f (x)

f
range

xX X =domain of f Figure 2: Domain and range of a function f .

where the notation implies that both X and Y can be the whole set R. A function f from the set X to the set Y , written as f: XY x f (x) = y

is a rule that assigns to each real number in X just one number in Y . The number in Y assigned to the number x X is denoted by f (x); if we label the number in Y as y , then we naturally write y = f (x). The expression f (x) is read as f of x and is called the value of f at x. A function is thus specied by a rule f and the set of initial data X . Denition 2. The set X is called the domain of the function and the set R = {f (x)|x X } of values taken by y when x takes all possible values in the domain is called the range (or image) of the function. The variable y , whose value depends on the chosen value of x, is called the dependent variable while x is called the independent variable. Note that, in general, the range is a subset of Y , that is, R = {f (x)|x X } Y . If no domain is specied we take the largest set of values for which the formula makes sense (avoiding , division by 0 etc). Examples: 1. The rule that assigns to each number the cube of that number: f : R R with f (x) = x3 . (Domain: R, Range: R) 2. The rule that assigns to each number x, the number x2 + 4: f : R R with f (x) = x2 + 4. (Domain: R, Range: { y | y 4 })

1 FUNCTIONS 3. The rule that assigns 5 to x when 0 x 25 and 10 to x when 25 < x 50: f : { x | 0 x 50 } R with { 5 for 0 x 25, f (x) = 10 for 25 < x 50. (Domain: { x | 0 x 50 }, Range: {5, 10})

For dening sets of real numbers in terms of intervals, the following notation is helpful. [a, b] is the set of all x with a x b. (a, b) is the set of all x with a < x < b. (a, b] is the set of all x with a < x b. [a, b) is the set of all x with a x < b. [a, +) is the set of all x with a x. (a, +) is the set of all x with a < x. (, b] is the set of all x with x b. (, b) is the set of all x with x < b. Word of caution We must be careful when dening functions. For example, y 2 = x only denes a function for the domain consisting of the single value 0. For values of x < 0 no values of y exist. For values of x > 0, each value of x is associated with two values of y (for example, if x = 4 then y = 2). Hence each value of x is NOT assigned with a single value of y .

1.2

Graphical representation of functions

It is often helpful to describe a function geometrically, using a rectangular xy coordinate system. Given any x in the domain of f , we can plot the point (x, f (x)). This is the point in the xy plane whose y coordinate is the value of the function at x. The set of all such points (x, f (x)) forms a curve in the xy plane and is called the graph of the function f (x). It is often possible to approximate the graph of f (x) by plotting the points (x, f (x)) for a representative set of values of x and joining them by a smooth curve (see gure 2). The more closely spaced the values of x, the closer the approximation. Example: Sketch the graph of y = f (x) = 4 x2 . Here the domain is not specied, but the rule works for any real number x. Hence, we can take the domain of f as R, giving the range of f as (, 4]. See gure 3a. Example: Sketch the graph of y = f (x) = |x| , x R.

1 FUNCTIONS
4

y =4x
2 x 2

4 y = |x| y = x y=x

10

12

Figure 3: (a) Graph of f (x) = 4 x2 . (b) Graph of f (x) = |x|. The modulus function is dened as follows { x if x 0, |x| = x if x < 0. Here the range is [0, ), see gure 3b. Example: Sketch the graph of y = f (x) = |x 1| , x R. Here the range is (, 0], see gure 4a. The graph of a function can never contain even two distinct points on the same vertical line. This is immediately obvious from the denition of a function: a function associates with each value of x in its domain one value of y . For example, from the graph of y 2 = x we can immediately see that this does not dene a function (see gure 4b).

1.3

The algebra of functions

Many functions we shall encounter may be viewed as combinations of other functions. For example, functions may be combined by addition, subtraction, multiplication and division: Example: If f (x) = 3x + 4 and g (x) = x2 + 5 then f (x) + g (x) = x2 + 3x + 9.

1 FUNCTIONS

y
2

x > 0 gives 2 values of y

y = |x 1|

A K A A A A A A A

2 x

A A A A

x = 0 y = 0 (gives 1 value of y ).

Figure 4: (a) Graph of f (x) = |x 1|. (b) Graph of y 2 = x. Note that the domain of f (x) + g (x) consists of all x for which f (x) + g (x) makes sense i.e. the set of all x that are both in the domain of f and the domain of g . An operation that is often useful when dening functions, is building the composition of two or more functions. Denition 3. Consider two functions f :AB , g:CD, such that the range of f is a subset of the domain of g . Then the function h : A D given by h = g (f (x)) is called the composite of f and g , and is often denoted by g f (see gure 5). Note that, in general, g f is not equal to f g . Example: If h(x) = x and g ( x) = x 2, then ( h g )( x ) = h ( g ( x )) = h ( x 2) = x 2. Also, (g h)(x) = g (h(x)) = g ( x) = x 2. Here, h(g (x)) is not equal g (h(x)). Example: By denition, (f f 1 )(x) = (f 1 f )(x) = 1.

1 FUNCTIONS C D A f (x) x g f (x)

Figure 5: Composite functions. Example: Consider f (x) = x2 , g (x) = x3 and h(x) = sin x. Then (f g )(x) = x6 (f h)(x) = sin2 (x) (f h g )(x) = sin2 (x3 )

1.4

Special functions

Here, we introduce some of the functions that we will encounter more frequently. 1.4.1 Polynomial functions

A function f is a real polynomial function if there are real numbers a0 , a1 , , an such that f (x) = an xn + an1 xn1 + + a2 x2 + a1 x + a0 , where it is assumed that an = 0. The domain of the function is R. The range of the function depends on the polynomial. The highest power of x with a nonzero coecient is called the degree of f ; e.g. the polynomial function f dened by f (x) = 6x7 + 3x2 43 has degree 7. 1.4.2 Rational functions

Rational functions are functions of the form p(x)/q (x) where p and q are polynomial functions of any degree (and q is not the function that is always 0). The domain of the function is {x|q (x) = 0}. 1.4.3 Algebraic functions

A function y = f (x) is an algebraic function if it satises a polynomial equation of the form an (x)y n + an1 (x)y n1 + + a1 (x)y + a0 (x) = 0

1 FUNCTIONS

with polynomial functions a0 (x), a1 (x), , an (x); e.g. the equation for the circle x2 + y 2 = 1 denes two functions y , namely y = 1 x2 . 1.4.4 Transcendental functions

A function that is not algebraic is called transcendental. Examples include the trigonometric, logarithm, exponential and hyperbolic functions. 1.4.5 Trigonometric functions (or circular functions)

The following table gives the trigonometric functions and their full names f (x) cos x sin x tan x = sec x = sin x cos x 1 cos x 1 sin x full name of f cosine sine tangent secant cosecant cotangent

cosec x = cot x =

1 tan x

Example: f (x) = tan x; see gure 6a. The domain of tan x is R, excluding the values /2 , 3/2 , 5/2 . The range of tan x is R. Trigonometric functions are related via certain identities: e.g. cos2 x +sin2 x = 1 . Further relations are discussed in the core-booklet (see the Revision of A-level Techniques section). Note, if we dene a curve by x = cos t and y = sin t, t R then this curve is a circle of radius 1 (since x2 + y 2 = cos2 t + sin2 t = 1). See gure 6b. Hence the name circular functions. 1.4.6 Exponential functions

A function familiar from A-level is the exponential function given by f (x) = ex ,

1 FUNCTIONS
10

y
4 2

t increasing
6 4 2 0 2 2 x 4 6

t=0

10

Figure 6: (a) Graph of tan x. (b) Circular functions. so called because the variable x is the exponent. The irrational number e, which is the base of natural logarithms and has a value e 2.718, arises in many situations in mathematics. The function has the special property that it is its own derivative: f (x) = ex = f (x). We can generalise this idea and dene functions of the form f (x) = ax where a > 0 is a real number . All such functions are called exponential functions and the number a is called the base of the exponential function. The solution x of y = ax for given y > 0 is just the logarithm to the base a. Note that ax may be written as ex ln a . 1.4.7 Hyperbolic functions

Hyperbolic functions are dened in terms of the exponential function as follows:

1 FUNCTIONS f (x) and denition full name of f

1 cosh x = (ex + ex ) hyperbolic cosine cosh 2 1 sinh x = (ex ex ) 2 tanh x = sech x = sinh x cosh x 1 cosh x 1 sinh x hyperbolic sine sinshor shine hyperbolic tangent than or tansh hyperbolic secant setch hyperbolic cosecant cosetch hyperbolic cotangent coth

cosech x = coth x =

1 tanh x

The graphs of sechx, cosechx and cothx are given in gure 7. As with the trigonometric functions, hyperbolic functions also obey certain identities e.g. cosh2 x sinh2 x = 1 , which can be proved as follows: cosh2 x sinh2 x = 1 x 1 (e + ex )2 (ex ex )2 4 4 ] 1 [ 2x = (e + 2 + e2x ) (e2x 2 + e2x ) =1 . 4

Other identities exist that are very similar to the trigonometric identities. Example: Prove from the denitions of sinh x and cosh x that sinh 2x = 2 sinh x cosh x. sinh 2x = ) ) 1( 2 )( 1 ( 2x e e2x = e + ex ex ex 2 2 ) ( 2 ) 1( 2 x 1 = 2 e +e e ex = 2 sinh x cosh x . 2 2

1.4.8

Even, odd and periodic functions

An even function f is one for which f (x) = f (x) for all x in the domain of f , see gure 8a. The graph of an even function is symmetric with respect to reection in the y axis. Examples of even functions include x2 , |x|, cos x, 3, as in all of these changing x to x has

1 FUNCTIONS

10

1 4 0.9 3 0.8 2 0.7 1 0.6 2 0.5 1 0.4 2 2 1 0 1 x 1 2 2 1 0 1 x 1 2 3 4

0.3 3 2 1 0 1 x 2 4 4 3

Figure 7: (a) The function y = sech x. (b) Graph of y = cosech x. (c) Graph of coth x.

y y

x x

Figure 8: (a) An even function. (b) An odd function.

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11

no eect. Note that the domain of f must be symmetrical about 0 (e.g. R or [2, 2]). An odd function is one for which f (x) = f (x) for all x in the domain of f , see gure 8b. The graph has a rotational symmetry of a half turn about the origin. Examples of odd functions include 1/x , sin x , x17 . Note that If 0 is in the domain of an odd function then f (0) = f (0) and hence f (0) = 0 . Any function f with domain (a, a) , [a, a] or R can be written as the sum of an even and an odd function: f (x) = 1 1 {f (x) + f (x)} + {f (x) f (x)} , 2 2

where the rst term on the RHS is an even function and the second term is odd. For example, if f (x) = e2x sin x we may write e2x sin x = ) ) 1 ( 2x 1 ( 2x e e2x sin x + e + e2x sin x , 2 2

the rst term on the RHS being even and the second being odd. A periodic function with period P is one for which f (x + P ) = f (x) , x R . For example, cos x has period P = 2 . Note that 4, 6, 8, . . . are also periods, but the smallest is usually taken. The graph of f has the symmetry that translation to the right (or left) by an amount P gives the same graph. The frequency is given by 1/P and is the number of periods per unit length of x axis.

1.5

Inverse functions

Denition 4. If f has the property that f (x1 ) = f (x2 ) whenever x1 = x2 , then an inverse function, denoted f 1 , can be dened. It has the property, that f 1 (y ) = f 1 (f (x)) = x. (Note that the range of f is equal to the domain of f 1 and the domain of f is equal to the range of f 1 .) An explicit formula for f 1 is often dicult to obtain algebraically and in many cases not feasible. A starting point is to use the equivalence y = f 1 (x) when x = f (y ). Example: Suppose y = f (x) = + x, where x 0. (Hence here the domain is [0, ) and the range is [0, ).) The inverse function is x = y 2 = f 1 (y ), which has domain [0, ), using the

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12

y = sin1 x
y=x y= x = f (x)
y=x

f y 00000 11111 x f 1

x = y 2 = f 1 (y )
y = sin x

Figure 9: (a) The function y =

x and its inverse. (b) Graph of y = sin x and its inverse.

above denition of f 1 . We can then, of course, switch x and y to write f 1 in the usual notation y = f 1 (x) = x2 , x 0 . In fact, the graph of y = f 1 (x) is the reection of the graph of y = f (x) in the line y = x (see gure 9a). Example: Suppose we consider the function y = sin x. Then the complete reected graph of y = sin x is not suitable as an inverse as for the inverse curve (dashed in gure 9b) each value of y leads to many values. Therefore, instead we select only part of the graph, as follows 1. y = sin x, domain [/2 , 3/2], range [1, 1]. The inverse is y = sin1 x, domain [1, 1], range [/2 , 3/2]. This form is not commonly used. 2. y = sin x, domain [/2 , /2], range [1, 1]. The inverse is y = sin1 x, domain [1, 1], range [/2 , /2]. This form is commonly used in calculators. Example: Logarithmic function The natural logarithmic function is given by y = ln x, x > 0 (sometimes loge x)

1 FUNCTIONS and is the inverse function of the function y = ex , x R. Hence y = ln x x = ey ,

13

where means if and only if. For the general exponential function f (x) = ax , there is an inverse function f 1 (y ) = loga y . Example: Let y = sinh1 x (inverse hyperbolic sine) 1 y then x = sinh y = 2 (e ey ). Solving for y gives the only feasible solution ey = x + x2 + 1, x2 + 1).

i.e. y = sinh1 x = ln(x +