Concepts of Functions in
Mathematics
Understanding the Foundation of Functions
Set Theory
SET: A well-defined collection of objects is
Note : A set is denoted by A, B, C , etc. and it is expressed by { } .
called a set.
Finite Set: Any set having certain numbers of
elements (elements are countable) is called a For example A= {1,2,3,4,5}
finite set .
Infinite Set: If a set is not finite then it is
For example A = {1,2,3,….. }
called an infinite set .
For example, Set of students who are currently studying
Empty Set/ Null Set/ Void Set: A set which both in class X and XI
contains no elements. A= { } OR
A= 𝜙
• Equal Sets: Given two sets A and B, if every element of A is also an element of B and if every
element of B is also an element of A, then the sets A and B are said to be equal. Clearly, the
two sets have exactly the same elements.
Example: A={a,b,c} and B={a,b,c}
• Sub Sets: Let A and B be two sets. If all the elements of A are the elements of B then A is
called subset B and it is denoted by A⊂B .
• Universal Set: the set containing all objects or elements and of which all other sets are
subsets. Denoted by U. Elements do not repeat in universal set.
Example: if A and B are two sets, such as A = {1,2,3} and B = {a,b,c,2,3}, then the
universal set associated with these two sets is given by
U = {1,2,3,a,b,c}.
Operations of Sets
• Union of sets: Let A and B be any two sets. The union of A and B is the set
which consists of all the elements of A and all the elements of B, the
common elements being taken only once. The symbol ‘∪’ is used to denote
the union. Symbolically, we write A ∪ B and usually read as ‘A union B’.
❖ Let A = { 2, 4, 6, 8} and B = { 6, 8, 10, 12}. Find A ∪ B.
• Intersection of sets: The intersection of sets A and B is the set of all elements
which are common to both A and B. The symbol ‘∩’ is used to denote the
intersection. Symbolically, we write A ∩ B.
❖ Let A = { 2, 4, 6, 8} and B = { 6, 8, 10, 12}. Find A ∩ B.
• Disjoint Sets: Let A and B be two sets. If there is no common element
between A and B then the sets are said to be disjoint sets.
Example: A={1,2} and B= {x,y}
A ∩ B= Null
• Cartesian Product of Sets: Given two non-empty
sets P and Q. The cartesian product P × Q is the set
of all ordered pairs of elements from P and Q,
i.e., P × Q = { (p,q) : p ∈ P, q ∈ Q }
Example: P={x,y} and Q={Red, Blue, Green}
then P × Q={(x,Red), (x,Blue), (x,Green), (y,Red),
(y,Blue), (y,Green)}
Relations
• Relation is the relationship/connection between two or more set.
(How two or more sets are connected?)
Example: Set P = {a, b, c} and Q = {Ali, Bhanu, Binoy, Chandra,
Divya}. Then we have defined a relation R between P and Q such
that R= {(x,y): x is the first letter of the name y, x ∈ P, y ∈ Q}.
Then R = {(a, Ali), (b, Bhanu), (b, Binoy), (c, Chandra)}
Functions
Functions is a special type of relation.
Definition: A relation f from a set A to a set B is said to be
a function if every element of set A has one and only one
image in set B.
The function f from A to B is denoted by
Various types of
Functions
• One-one Function: A function f : X → Y is defined to be one-one (or injective), if the images of distinct
elements of X under f are distinct, i.e., for every x1 , x2 ∈ X, f(x1 ) = f(x2 ) implies x1 = x2 .
OR
(a function that produces a unique output for each unique input)
• Many-one Function: If two or more than two elements of set X have the same image in Y , then it is called
many-one function.
OR
(more than one/ many inputs can have same output)
• Onto Function: A function f : X → Y is said to be onto (or surjective), if every element of Y is the image of
some element of X under f, i.e., for every y ∈ Y, there exists an element x in X such that f(x) = y.
OR
(every element in the range is mapped to at least one element in the domain)
• Bijective Function: A function f : X → Y is said to be (bijective), if f is both one-one and onto.
• Composition of Function: Let
f:A→B and g:B →C be given
two functions. If Range (f) ⊂
Domain(g) satisfied, then we
can say that gof: A→C exists
and is called composite
function.
• Inverse Function: If f:A → B is one-one and
onto function (bijective) then the function f:B
→ A is called inverse function of f .
Questions
1. If x ∈ n then what is the solution set of the equation x + 2 = 0?
2. If f:R → 𝑅; 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 + 1 and g:R → 𝑅; g(x)=x 3 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 find gof(x)
3. If f:R+ → 𝑅+ ; 𝑓(𝑥) = log 𝑒𝑥 and g:R → 𝑅; g(x)=e𝑥 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 find fog(x)
4. If f:R+ → 𝑅+ ; 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 2 + 1 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 find the value of f −1 (x)
5. If f:R → 𝑅; 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑒 𝑥 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 find the value of f −1 (x)
6. If f:R → 𝑅; 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 2 +1 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 find fof(1)
7. If f(x)=x + 2; g(x)=x 2 then find the value of
f(x)g(x)
8. If f:R → R; f(x)=e𝑥 the find fof(−1)
9. If A={x: x is a multiple of 2;x∈N} B={x: x is a multiple of 3;x∈N} then
find A∩B
10. If f:R → R; f(x)=(−1)𝑥 the find R𝑓 (𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓)
1
11. Suppose f(x)= then find (fofof)(x)
1−𝑥
12. If f:R+ → 𝑅; f(x)=log 𝑒𝑥 and g:R+ → 𝑅; g(x)=e𝑥 the find fog and gof
𝑥+1
13. If f:R → 𝑅; f(x)= 2 , g:R → 𝑅; g(x)=2x−1 and h:R → 𝑅; h(x)=x 2 then prove
that ho(gof)=(hog)of
