Math 117 - Lecture Notes

David Harmsworth 2013

Part I

Functions
Since calculus is primarily concerned with the study of functions, we begin this course with a review of some of the basic concepts. Since most of these ideas should already be familiar to you, well move quite quickly, with a focus on addressing some common misconceptions. However, we will also introduce some concepts which are usually not discussed until later on in the calculus sequence, so there should be something new for everyone each week.

Review of the Basics

A function is simply a rule which assigns a single output value to each input value. You are probably familiar with the vertical line test; for a true function there can be only a single output for each input, and this corresponds to the fact that its graph cannot pass through any vertical line more than once. Since we customarily use the name x for the independent (input) variable and the name y for the dependent (output) variable, we can describe the action of a function f by writing y = f (x). You may occasionally also see the notation f : x f (x), which doesnt require us to assign a name to the output. Note that there doesnt have to be a formula for a function. For instance, the temperature at a given location can be regarded as a function of time, but theres no explicit formula for it! Of course, to use calculus, we might try to invent a formula which approximates the real function.

The domain of a function is the set of allowable values for the independent variable, while the range is the set of possible values for the dependent variable. For example, for the function f (x) = x 1, the domain (unless otherwise specied) is the set of values of x such that x 1, and the range is the set of values of x such that x 0. Comment: Well often describe such sets in interval notation : an interval such as

{x | 1 < x < 2} can be expressed simply as the interval (1, 2). If we wish to include the endpoints we use square brackets: the interval {x | 1 x 2} can be written as [1, 2]. These two types of intervals are referred to as open and closed, respectively. The two types of parentheses can be combined as needed, so for example the interval [1, 2) is closed on the left and open on the right (that is, the number 1 is included, but the number 2 is not). We use the symbol for unbounded intervals; it will always be accompanied by a round bracket (because is not a real number, so it cant be included in an interval). With this notation we could write the domain and range for x 1 as [1, ) and [0, ), respectively. Comment #2: Of course, we could also impose a restriction on the domain for a given function. For example, we could dene a function as g (x) = x 1 for x [1, 5), and then the range would be just [0, 2). Comment #3: Youll probably notice that textbooks alternate between two dierent notations for introducing the functions they want you to work on in their exercises. Is there a dierence in meaning between writing, for example, f (x) = x2 , and writing y = x2 ? Well, obviously there isnt much dierence in the amount of information given; the dierence is really one of emphasis. In the prior notation the emphasis is on the rule ; we are given a name for the function, and told that it is the one which squares the input. In the latter notation we are given a name for the output, and the emphasis is on the relationship between variables. In a sense it is a contraction of two statements: y = f (x) , where f (x) = x2 . Comment #4: Sometimes other relationships between variables may also be of interest. For example, the equation x2 + y 2 = a2 should be familiar as the equation of a circle of radius a, but its graph clearly fails the vertical line test! So, why do we make such a fuss about which relationships are functions and which arent? Well, it does make a dierence for the theory of

calculus, so for example to perform certain calculations we might have to break the equation of our circle into the two functions y = a2 x2 and y = a2 x2 .

Composition of Functions

If y = f (x) and x = g (t), then we can view y as a function of t: y = f (g (t)). There is a second notation for this, too - we may write it as y = f g (t). This notation is convenient if we wish to omit the independent variable; we can discuss the functions f , g , f g , g f , &c. Its easy to show that composition is not generally commutative. That is, f g is not usually the same function as g f . Example: If f (x) = 1 sin x and g (x) = x2 , then while

f g (x) = f (g (x)) = f (x2 ) = 1 sin(x2 ),

g f (x) = g (f (x)) = g (1 sin x) = (1 sin x)2 . Unfortunately, with all of the concepts we encounter in

Comment on notation:

mathematics, there will still occasionally be some ambiguity in our notation. For example, it may have occurred to you that the interval notation we introduced above could cause some confusion, since the expression (1, 2) could be interpreted as either as an interval or as a point in the xy -plane. The intent is usually clear from the context, though, and if it isnt we can make it clear by writing either x (1, 2) or (x, y ) = (1, 2). Youll notice a similar problem if you consider the expression h(2 y 2 ). This could be interpreted either as a product of a variable h and the dierence 2 y 2 , or as a function named h evaluated at 2 y 2 (a composition). To help avoid confusion we traditionally use the letters a, b, c, and d to represent parameters, s, t, x, y , and z to represent variables, and the letters f and g as names for functions1 . However, this is not a rm rule (and h is often used in both roles), so youll need to pay attention to the context.2
There are also traditional roles for the letters of the Greek alphabet: is a xed constant, and are used to represent parameters, is used to denote a small parameter, and are used as functions, , , and are used as variables, and so on. The letters are often used as counterparts to their English equivalents, so learning the Greek alphabet will be helpful! 2 To make matters worse, in applications well often use the same name for a function and a variable. For instance, if x represents the distance of a moving object from its starting point, and it can be calculated using a function of time f (t), then we ought to write x = f (t), using x for the output variable and f for the rule we use to calculate it. However, we may be dealing with a lot of variables and several functions, so it might actually be less confusing to write x = x(t). This blurring of the lines is even reected in our speech - if y = f (x) well say that y is a function of x... but y is a variable, not a function! Technically we should say the value of y is given by a function of x, but no one ever speaks that precisely - not even mathematicians!
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Inverse Functions

We say that a function g is an inverse of a function f if g (f (x)) = x, for any x in the domain of f . Actually, inverses are unique, so we may say that g is the inverse of f . In words we might say that the inverse undoes the action of the original function. Suppose y = f (x), and that g is the inverse of f . Then, by our denition, we know that g (f (x)) = x. This means that g (y ) = x. Applying f to both sides of this equation we get

f (g (y )) = f (x) , and so f (g (y )) = y (using the fact that f (x) = y again). Therefore if g is the inverse of f , then f is also the inverse of g . Notation: Unfortunately, the problems with notation do not end with the comments of the previous section. The standard notation for the inverse of f (x) is f 1 (x), which is arguably the worst piece of notation in all of calculus. The reason should be clear; the inverse of f is not the same thing as the reciprocal of f ! That is, we may write the reciprocal,
1 f ( x) ,

as [f (x)]1 ,

but we must not confuse this with f 1 (x), which means something completely dierent. Well see this problem again a little bit later with the so-called3 inverse trigonometric functions: [sin x]2 is understood to mean the same thing as sin2 x, but [sin x]1 is not the same thing as sin1 x ! (Just for clarity: [sin x]1 means inverse.) Many authors prefer to use the name arcsin x for the inverse, but even if you decide to use this consistently you must never write sin1 x to represent the reciprocal, because you will be misunderstood!
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1 sin x ,

which is also written as csc x, while sin1 x is the

Youll see the reason for the adjective so-called when we get to that topic.

Finding Inverses: In simple cases we can nd the inverse function simply by solving the equation y = f (x) for x. Example: If f (x) = 1 2 (x 1), nd the inverse of f . Solution: It will help to give a name to the output, so lets write y = 1 2 (x 1). Then we have 2y = x 1, and then x = 2y + 1. Therefore the inverse of f is given by f 1 (y ) = 2y + 1. We can conrm that this is correct: f 1 (f (x)) = 2

1 2 (x

1) + 1 = (x 1) + 1 = x.

Note: Youve been taught to switch the variables, to obtain the expression y = 2x + 1, but this is not at all necessary. Writing f 1 (y ) = 2y + 1 gives exactly the same information as writing f 1 (x) = 2x + 1. As we discussed at the very beginning, the function is just the rule : multiply by 2 and then add 1. It doesnt matter what name we give to the independent variable; the function remains the same. It is traditional to interchange the variables simply because it is traditional to use x as the independent variable! In fact, in applications interchanging the variables is a terrible idea, since the variables will usually be attached to specic quantities. For example, suppose that the distance travelled by a moving object can be calculated as x = f (t) = 2t 1, where t represents time. Then the inverse function gives the time required for the object to move a given distance: t = f 1 (x) =
1 2 2 (x

+ 1). Interchanging the variables here would be crazy!

Tradition also dictates that when graphing a function y = f (x), we should use the horizontal axis for the independent variable. If we do this (and also interchange the names of the variables so that the horizontal axis corresponds to the variable x), then it follows that the graph of the inverse will be the reection of the original graph across the line y = x. Why? Its precisely because were interchanging the roles of x and y !4
This is an important point: the change in the graph is a result of the swap of the axes, and really has nothing to do with the concept of the inverse. In fact, if we dont swap the axes, then the graphs of f and f 1 will be the same ! Graphs are a tool for visualizing relationships between variables, and the two functions f and f 1 correspond to the same relationship.
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Invertibility: Not every function possesses an inverse. The problem, of course, is that for the inverse to be a true function, it must have a single output for every input. This requires that the original function must have a single input for every output, in which case we say that it is one-to-one. We can often spot this from the graph; if f is one-to-one it will pass the horizontal line test. This ties in with our discussion above; if f is invertible then its graph will pass the vertical line test after we interchange the axes! Note that even if f is not one-to-one, and therefore not invertible, we may be able to restrict its domain to some interval on which it is one-to-one, and then we can dene an inverse for the restriction of f to that domain. Example: The function f (x) = x2 has no inverse. However, the restriction of f to the interval [0, ) does have an inverse: lets call it g+ (x) = x. Alternatively, we could consider the restriction of f to the interval (, 0], which has the inverse g (x) = x.