Function

Nakib Hayat Chowdhury

Assistant Professor, Dept. of CSE, BAUST

1
Every extraordinary feat began in ordinary circumstances. I will start my journey of success from where I am now.
 Function
Definition
• Let A and B be sets. A function f from A to B is an assignment of
exactly one element of B to each element of A.

• We write f(a) = b if b is the unique element of B assigned by the function f to

the element a of A.
Function
 Function
Definition of a function
f:R Z

f maps R to
R Z
Domain Z Co-domain
f

f(4.3
4.3 ) 4

Pre-image of 4 Image of 4.3

 Function
More functions
A pre-image The image
Domain Co-domain of 1 of “a”

Topu A “a” 1
x B “bb” 2
Nahid C “cccc” 3
y D “dd” 4
z F “e” 5

A class grade function A string length function

 Function
Even more functions

Range

a 1 “a” 1
e 2 “bb“ 2
i 3 “cccc” 3
o 4 “dd” 4
u 5 “e” 5

Some function… Not a valid function!

Also not a valid function!
Function: Domain, Codomain
Function and Formula
•
 Function arithmetic
Definition
Let f1 and f2 be function from A to B. Then f1 + f2 and f1 f2 are also
functions from A to B defined by
• (f1 + f2)(x) = f1(x) + f2(x)

• (f1 f2)(x) = f1(x) f2(x)

 Function : Loss vs NO Loss

• f(x) = x2
• f grading system

• f(x) = 0.1x
 One to One Function
One-to-one functions
Definition
A function is one-to-one if elements in the co-domain has a unique pre-
image

a 1 a 1
e 2 e 2
i 3 i 3
o 4 o 4
5 5

A one-to-one function A function that is

not one-to-one
 One to One Function
More on one-to-one
• Injective is synonymous with one-to-one
• “A function is injective”
• A function is an injection if it is one-to-one
a 1
e 2
• Note that there can be un-used elements i 3
in the co-domain o 4
5

A one-to-one function
 OneMore
to One Function
on one-to-one

• Determine whether the function f form {a, b, c, d} to {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

with f(a)= 4, f(b)= 5, f(c)= 1, f(d)= 3 is one-to-one or not.

• Determine whether the function f(x) = x2 from the set of integers to

the set of integers is one-to-one?

• Determine whether the function f(x) = x+1 from the set of integers to
the set of integers is one-to-one?
 Onto functions
Definition
A function is onto if each element in the co-domain is an image of some
pre-image(s).
 Onto functions
Definition
A function is onto if each element in the co-domain is an image of some
pre-image

a 1 a 1
e 2 e 2
i 3 i 3
o 4 o 4
u 5

An onto function A function that

is not onto
 Onto functions
More on onto
• Surjective is synonymous with onto
• “A function is surjective”
• A function is an surjection if it is onto
a 1

• Note that there can be multiply used e 2

elements in the co-domain i 3

o 4
u

An onto function
 Onto functions
More onto

• Determine whether the function f form {a, b, c, d} to {1, 2, 3} with

f(a)= 3, f(b)= 2, f(c)= 1, f(d)= 3 is onto or not.

• Determine whether the function f(x) = x2 from the set of integers to

the set of integers is onto?

• Determine whether the function f(x) = x+1 from the set of integers to
the set of integers is onto?
 Onto vs. one-to-one
Are the following functions onto, one-to-one, both, or neither?

a 1 a 1
a 1
b 2 b 2
b 2
c 3 c 3
c 3
4 d 4
4
1-to-1, not onto Both 1-to-1 and onto Not a valid function

a 1 a 1
b 2 b 2
c 3 c 3
d d 4
Onto, not 1-to-1 Neither 1-to-1 nor onto
 Bijections
Definition
• A function that is both one-to-one and onto Such a function is a one-
to-one correspondence, or a bijection.

a 1
• We only can find the inverse of a function if it is a bijection b 2
function. c 3
d 4
 Bijections

• Let f be the function from {a,b,c,d} to {1,2,3,4} with f(a)=4, f(b)=2,

f(c)=1 and f(d)=3. Is f bijection?
 Identity functions
Definition
A function such that the image and the pre-image are ALWAYS equal

• f(x) = 1*x
• f(x) = x + 0

• The domain and the co-domain must be the same set

Inverse functions
Inverse functions
Let f(x) = 2*x

R f R

f-1

f(4.3)
4.3 8.6
f-1(8.6)

Then f-1(x) = x/2

 Inverse functions
Definition

Let f be a one-to-one correspondence 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 f-1 .

• Hence, f-1 (b) = a when f(a) = b
 More on inverse
Inverse functions
functions
• Can we define the inverse of the following functions?
a 1 a 1
b 2 b 2
c 3 c 3
4 d

What is f-1(2)? What is f-1(2)?

Not onto! Not 1-to-1!

• An inverse function can ONLY be done defined on a bijection

 Few functions
Few Examples
• f: Z → Z
• f(x) = x
• f(x) = 2x
• f(x) = x+1
• f: R → R
• f(x) = 2x
• f(x) = x2
• f(x) = x3
• f: R → R+ ∪ {0}
• f(x) = x2
Compositions of functions
(f ○ g)(x) = f(g(x))
f○g

A B C
g f

g(a) f(b)

a f(g(a))
b = g(a)

(f ○ g)(a)
 Compositions of functions
Definition

• 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 f o g is defined by

(f o g)(a) = f(g(a))

Note that the composition f o g can not be defined unless the range of g is a subset
of the domain of f.
Compositions offunctions
Compositions of functions
Let f(x) = 2x+3 f○g
Let g(x) =
3x+2
R R R
g f

g(1) f(5)
f(g(1))=13
1
g(1)=5

(f ○ g)(1)

f(g(x)) = 2(3x+2)+3 =
6x+7
 Compositions of
Compositions of functions functions
Does f(g(x)) = g(f(x))?

Let f(x) = 2x+3 Let g(x) = 3x+2

f(g(x)) = 2(3x+2)+3 = 6x+7

Not equal!
g(f(x)) = 3(2x+3)+2 = 6x+11

Function composition is not commutative!

Graphs of functions f(x)
=3
x=
1

Let f(x)=2x+1
f(x)
=5
x=
Plot (x, f(x)) 2

This is a plot
of f(x)
 Graphs of functions

Not one-to- one one-to- one

Not onto Nor onto

Both one-to- one

and onto Not one-to- one
Bur onto
 Useful functions

• Floor: ⎣x⎦ means take the greatest integer less than or equal to the
number

• Ceiling: ⎡x⎤ means take the lowest integer

greater than or equal to the number

• round(x) = ⎣ x+0.5 ⎦
 Floor, Ceiling Examples

• Find these values

• ⎣1.1⎦ 1
• ⎡1.1⎤ 2
• ⎣-0.1⎦ -1
• ⎡-0.1⎤ 0