Algebra 1

Section 3.1

Rules for functions and Relations

Algebraic Relations

In algebra, it is often useful to link a group of numbers to another group of numbers in pairs.
This is exactly what a relation does in algebra. An algebraic relation links two numbers together by
using an ordered pair. An ordered pair involves two numbers in a specific order, as the name woulds
suggest. Usually, ordered pairs are written in the notation (a, b), where a and b are numbers. Note
that because order matters, (a, b) is not the same as (b, a).

A relation describes how specific numbers are "mapped" to other numbers to form an ordered
pair. The numbers that come first in ordered pairs formed by a relation make up the domain of the
relation. The numbers that come second in these pairs make up the range of the relation.

Consider the relation "the range squared is equal to the domain". Then, the number 1 would
be mapped to the number 1, and so (1, 1) would be an ordered pair in the relation. The number 4
would be mapped to the number 2, and so (4, 2) would be an ordered pair in the relation. Continuing
this logic, (9, 3), (16, 4), and so on would be in the relation. Recall, however, that the product of two
negative numbers is positive, and so (1)2 = 1, (2)2 = 4, and so on. Thus, the ordered pairs (1, 1),
(4, 2), (9, 3) and so on would also be in the relation. This establishes an important principle: a
number in the domain of a relation may be mapped to many different numbers in the range of the
relation, and many numbers in the range of a relation may be mapped from several different numbers
in the domain of a relation.

Sometimes, the domain of a relation is called the input of that relation, and the range of a relation
is called the output of a relation. If it helps, one can think of a relation as a machine that takes in
numbers (in the domain) and pumps out numbers (in the range). The two numbers are then grouped
together as an ordered pair.

Variables that are in a relations domain are independent variables and variables that are in a
relations range are dependent variables. If this vocabulary reminds you of equations and inequali-
ties from the previous section, that these topics, just like most topics in math, are related.

The domain of a relation can be explicitly or implicitly stated. Almost always, we will restrict
relations to dealing with real numbers. If a relation took numbers in the domain and added 5 to them,
then infinitely many numbers can be in the domain of the relation, in fact any real number can be
in the relations domain. However, the relation that takes the square root of numbers in the domain
must exclude negative numbers from this domain. There is no real number that when squared gives a
negative number, so negative numbers are implicitly left out of the domain of this relation.

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Algebraic Functions and Function Notation

Sometimes it is useful to build a relation that give desired information for input as an output.
It would be confusing, then, to get different outputs for the same input. Thus, we create a more
restrictive set of relations called functions. A function is a relation where every input is mapped to
no more than 1 output. Note that 0 is not more than 1, so some inputs may be mapped to no output.

If every output is mapped to by no more than one input, we say a function is 1-to-1. Visual
representations of these types of relations are given below. The green arrows represent a number in
the relations domain being mapped to a number in the relations range.

Relations that arent functions

2 3

5 4

7 5

Domain Range

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 Functions that arent 1-to-1

2 3

5 4

7 5

Domain Range

1-to-1 functions

2 3

5 4

7 5

Domain Range

These maps can be somewhat difficult to deal with, and a more convenient way of expressing
functions are through function notation. Note that the algebraic linear equations we studied in the
previous section are functions. One can think of x as the input of the function and y as the output.
Because all the operations in these linear equations are addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division
(which are all 1-to-1), the equations are functions. For example, given the linear equation y = 3x + 1,
every input is multiplied by 3 and one is added to the product. The resulting value is the output of
the function. However, function notation uses f (x) in stead of y. This is read "f of x", and can be
thought of as "the function of x". The above equation written in function notation, then, would be
f (x) = 3x + 1. The reason this notation is used is that it makes it simple to evaluate a function for
a specific input value. f (2) is read "f of 2" and means "evaluate f (x) at x = 2. Doing this, we find
f (2) = 3(2) + 1 = 6 + 1 = 7.

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Examples

Here are a few examples to test the concepts provided in this section. Answers can be found on
the following pages.

1. A relation is made up of the ordered pairs (3, 0), (2, 1), and (4, 1). Is this relation a function?
Is it 1-to-1?

2. The function f is described by the linear equation f (x) = 5(x 1) + 3. What is the domain of
f (x)? What is the range?

3. Given the function described in question 2, what is f (1)?

4. What is the value of x when f (x) = 0, where f (x) is the function from question 2.

5. Which of the sets of ordered pairs is NOT a function? Why?

A. (0, 1), (5, 3), and (3, 3)
B. (2, 1), (2, 2), and (4, 5)
C. (2, 2), (3, 1), and (2, 0)
D. (1, 0), (0, 0), and (1, 0)

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Solutions

These are the solutions to the questions on the previous page

1. Remember that the first number in the ordered pair is the "input" of the relation and the second
number is the "output" of the relation. Because no numbers are repeated as inputs the the
relation, no number is mapped to more than one number. Thus, this is a function. However,
both 2 and 4 are mapped to 1, so this function is not 1-to-1.

2. The variable x is involved in only addition, multiplication, and subtraction. All real numbers can
be involved in these operations, so the domain is all real numbers. Additionally, by increasing
or decreasing the value of x, f (x) can be increased and decreased respectively without limit, or
infinitely. Thus, the range is also all real numbers.

3. One simply needs to plug x = 1 into the equation for f (x), yielding f (1) = 5(1 1) + 3 =
5(0) + 3 = 0 + 3 = 3. So f (1) = 3.

4. Setting f (x) = 0 in the equation for f (x) yields 0 = 5(x 1) + 3, which is a linear algebraic
equation with one variable. This means we can solve it by first distributing the 5 and combining
like terms yielding 0 = 5x 2, secondly adding two to both sides yielding 2 = 5x, and finally
dividing by 5 to obtain x = 25 . So f (x) = 0 when x = 52 , or f ( 25 ) = 0.

5. The correct answer is C. It is the only set of ordered pairs in which a single number, 2, is repeated
as an input and different outputs, 2 and 0, are obtained. This is a violation of the rules for a
function, so C is not a function and thus the correct answer.