Examples for Operations on
functions
Addition
Subtraction
Multiplication
Division
Composition
1
Let 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 + 1 and 𝑔(𝑥) = 3𝑥 3 + 6𝑥 – 4.
Find (𝑓 + 𝑔) (𝑥).
Solution:
(𝑓 + 𝑔)(𝑥) = 𝑓(𝑥) + 𝑔(𝑥)
= (𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 + 1) + (3𝑥 3 + 6𝑥 – 4)
= 𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 + 1 + 3𝑥 3 + 6𝑥 – 4
= 3𝑥 3 + 𝑥 2 + (−2𝑥 + 6𝑥) + (1 – 4)
(𝑓 + 𝑔)(𝑥) = 3𝑥 3 + 𝑥 2 + 4𝑥 – 3
2
2 3
Let 𝑓 𝑥 = 3𝑥 − 4𝑥 + 5 and 𝑔 𝑥 = 2𝑥 + 6𝑥 − 2.
Find 𝑓 + 𝑔 𝑥 .
Solution:
𝑓+𝑔 𝑥 =𝑓 𝑥 +𝑔 𝑥
= 3𝑥 2 − 4𝑥 + 5 + 2𝑥 3 + 6𝑥 − 2
= 3𝑥 2 − 4𝑥 + 5 + 2𝑥 3 + 6𝑥 − 2
= 2𝑥 3 + 3𝑥 2 + −4𝑥 + 6𝑥 + 5 − 2
𝑓 + 𝑔 𝑥 = 2𝑥 3 + 3𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 + 3
3
2
Let 𝑓 𝑥 = 2𝑥 − 1 and 𝑔 𝑥 = 𝑥 + 𝑥 − 2.
Find 𝑓 − 𝑔 (𝑥).
Solution:
𝑓 − 𝑔 𝑥 = 𝑓 𝑥 − 𝑔(𝑥)
= 2𝑥 − 1 − 𝑥 2 + 𝑥 − 2
= 2𝑥 − 1 − 𝑥 2 − 𝑥 + 2
= −𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 − 𝑥 + −1 + 2
𝑓 − 𝑔 𝑥 = −𝑥 2 + 𝑥 + 1
4
Let 𝑓 𝑥 = 4𝑥 3 − 3𝑥 2 − 𝑥 + 4 and
𝑔 𝑥 = 3𝑥 3 + 2𝑥 2 − 4. Find 𝑓 − 𝑔 (𝑥).
Solution:
𝑓 − 𝑔 𝑥 = 𝑓 𝑥 − 𝑔(𝑥)
= 4𝑥 3 − 3𝑥 2 − 𝑥 + 4 − 3𝑥 3 + 2𝑥 2 − 4
= 4𝑥 3 − 3𝑥 2 − 𝑥 + 4 − 3𝑥 3 − 2𝑥 2 + 4
= 4𝑥 3 − 3𝑥 3 + −3𝑥 2 + −2𝑥 2 − 𝑥 + 4 + 4
𝑓 − 𝑔 𝑥 = 𝑥 3 − 5𝑥 2 − 𝑥 + 8
5
2
Let 𝑓 𝑥 = 2𝑥 − 3 and 𝑔 𝑥 = 𝑥 − 𝑥.
Find 𝑓 ⋅ 𝑔 𝑥 .
Solution:
𝑓 ⋅ 𝑔 𝑥 = 𝑓 𝑥 ⋅ 𝑔(𝑥)
= 2𝑥 − 3 𝑥 2 − 𝑥
= 2𝑥 𝑥 2 − 𝑥 − 3 𝑥 2 − 𝑥
= 2𝑥 3 − 2𝑥 2 − 3𝑥 2 + 3𝑥
𝑓 ⋅ 𝑔 𝑥 = 2𝑥 3 − 5𝑥 2 + 3𝑥
6
2
Let 𝑓 𝑥 = 3𝑥 − 2 and 𝑔 𝑥 = 𝑥 − 2𝑥 + 5.
Find 𝑓 ⋅ 𝑔 𝑥 .
Solution:
𝑓 ⋅ 𝑔 𝑥 = 𝑓 𝑥 ⋅ 𝑔(𝑥)
= 3𝑥 − 2 𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 + 5
= 3𝑥 𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 + 5 − 2 𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 + 5
= 3𝑥 3 − 6𝑥 2 + 15𝑥 − 2𝑥 2 + 4𝑥 − 10
𝑓 ⋅ 𝑔 𝑥 = 3𝑥 3 − 8𝑥 2 + 19𝑥 − 10
7
Let 𝑓 𝑥 = 3𝑥 − 4 and 𝑔 𝑥 = 𝑥 2 − 2𝑥.
𝑓
Find 𝑥 . 𝑔 𝑥 ≠0
𝑔
Solution:
𝑓 𝑓(𝑥)
𝑥 =
𝑔 𝑔(𝑥)
3𝑥 − 4
= 2
𝑥 − 2𝑥
𝑓 3𝑥−4
𝑥 = 𝑥 2 − 2𝑥 ≠ 0
𝑔 𝑥 2 −2𝑥
8
Let 𝑓 𝑥 = 2𝑥 − 1 and 𝑔 𝑥 = 𝑥 2 + 𝑥 − 2.
𝑓
Find 𝑥 . 𝑔 𝑥 ≠0
𝑔
Solution:
𝑓 𝑓(𝑥)
𝑥 =
𝑔 𝑔(𝑥)
2𝑥 − 1
= 2
𝑥 +𝑥−2
𝑓 2𝑥−1
𝑥 = 𝑥2 + 𝑥 − 2 ≠ 0
𝑔 𝑥 2 +𝑥−2
9
Let 𝑓 𝑥 = 3𝑥 − 4 and 𝑔 𝑥 = 𝑥 2 + 𝑥. Find each of
the following composite functions:
a. 𝑓 ∘ 𝑔 𝑥 b. 𝑔 ∘ 𝑓 𝑥
10
a. 𝑓 ∘ 𝑔 𝑥
We begin with 𝑓 ∘ 𝑔 𝑥 , the composition of 𝑓 with 𝑔. Because
𝑓 ∘ 𝑔 𝑥 means 𝑓 𝑔 𝑥 , we must replace each occurrence of 𝑥 in
the equation for 𝑓 with 𝑔(𝑥).
𝑓 𝑥 = 3𝑥 − 4
Replace 𝑥 with 𝑔(𝑥)
𝑓 ∘𝑔 𝑥 =𝑓 𝑔 𝑥 =3 𝑔 𝑥 − 4 = 3 𝑥 2 + 𝑥 = 3𝑥 2 + 3𝑥
Thus, 𝑓 ∘ 𝑔 𝑥 = 3𝑥 2 + 3𝑥
11
b. 𝑔 ∘ 𝑓 𝑥
Next, we find 𝑔 ∘ 𝑓 𝑥 , the composition of g with f. Because 𝑔 ∘ 𝑓 𝑥
means 𝑔 𝑓 𝑥 , we must replace each occurrence of 𝑥 in the equation for 𝑔
with 𝑓(𝑥).
𝑔 𝑥 = 𝑥2 + 𝑥
Replace 𝑥 with 𝑓(𝑥)
2
𝑔 ∘𝑓 𝑥 =𝑔 𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑔 𝑥 + 𝑔(𝑥) 3𝑥 − 4 2 + 3𝑥 − 4
= 9𝑥 2 − 24𝑥 + 16 + 3𝑥 − 4
Thus, 𝑔 ∘ 𝑓 𝑥 = 9𝑥 2 − 21 𝑥 + 12
Notice that 𝑓 ∘ 𝑔 𝑥 is not the same as 𝑔 ∘ 𝑓 𝑥
12
Practice Exercise: Perform the indicated
operations on the functions given below.
Let 𝑓 𝑥 = 5𝑥 + 1, 𝑔 𝑥 = 5𝑥 − 1, and ℎ 𝑥 = 10𝑥 2 + 13𝑥 − 3.
1. 𝑓 + 𝑔 𝑥 3. 𝑓𝑔 𝑥 5. ℎ ∘ 𝑔 𝑥
ℎ
2. ℎ − 𝑔 𝑥 4. 𝑥 6. 𝑔 ∘ 𝑓 𝑥
𝑔
13
