CHAPTER 2

RELATIONS AND FUNCTIONS

Introduction

Relations and Functions in real life give us the link between any two entities. In our daily
life, we come across many patterns and links that characterize relations such as a relation
between a father and a son, brother and sister, etc. In mathematics also, we come across
many relations between numbers such as a number x is less than y, line l is parallel to
line m, etc. Relation and function map elements of one set (domain) to the elements of
another set (codomain).

Functions are nothing but special types of relations that define the precise
correspondence between one quantities with the other. In this unit, we will study how to
link pairs of elements from two sets and then define a relation between them, different
types of relations and functions, and the difference between relation and function.

Relations and Functions” are the most important topics in algebra. Relations and
functions – these are the two different words having different meanings mathematically.
You might get confused about their difference. Before we go deeper, let us understand
the difference between both with a simple example.

An ordered pair is represented as (INPUT, OUTPUT):

The relation shows the relationship between INPUT and OUTPUT. Whereas, a function is
a relation, which derives, one OUTPUT for each given INPUT.

Note: All functions are relations, but not all relations are functions.
 What is a Function?

A function is a relation which describes that there should be only one output for each
input (or) we can say that a special kind of relation (a set of ordered pairs), which follows
a rule i.e., every X-value should be associated with only one y-value is called a function.

Domain ( Inputs ) Range (Output)

-1 -3

1 3

3 9

Let us also look at the definition of Domain and Range of a function.

Domain It is a collection of the first values in the ordered pair (Set of all input (x) values).

Range It is a collection of the second values in the ordered pair (Set of all output (y) values).

Example:

In the relation, {(-2, 3), {4, 5), (6, -5), (-2, 3)},

The domain is {-2, 4, 6} and range is {-5, 3, 5}.

Note: Do not consider duplicates while writing the domain and range and write it in
increasing order.
Types of Functions

In terms of relations, we can define the types of functions as:

1. One to one function or Injective function: A function f: A → B is said to be one

to one if for each element of A there is a distinct element of B.

2. Many to one function: A function which maps two or more elements of P to the
same element of set Q.

3. One-to-many functions: is a type of relationship between two sets where each

element in the first set is associated with multiple elements in the second set.
4. Many to many functions: Refer to a type of relation where multiple elements from
one set are associated with multiple elements from another set.

What is the Relation?

It is a subset of the Cartesian product. Or simply, a bunch of points (ordered pairs). In

other words, the relation between the two sets is defined as the collection of the ordered
pair, in which the object from each set forms the ordered pair.

Example: {(-2, 1), (4, 3), (7, -3)}, usually written in set notation form with curly
brackets.

Relation Representation

There are other ways too to write the relation, apart from set notation such as through
tables, plotting it on XY- axis or through mapping diagram.
 Vertical line test

Vertical line test can be used to determine whether a graph represents a function or
not. If we can draw any vertical line that intersects a graph more than once, then the
graph does not define a function because a function has only one output value for each
input value. In each of the graphs, we can conclude by a quick observation if the vertical
line is cutting the curve at one point or more than one point. If the line is cutting the
curve more than once, then it does not represent the graph of a function. For a function,
the vertical line needs to cut the curve at only one point.

Study the following graphs then state whether its function or not.

\
 Exercise

Identify the domain and range of each relation. Use a mapping diagram to
determine whether the relation is a function.

1. {(3, 6), (5, 7), (7, 7) (8, 9)} 2. {(0, 0.4), (1, 0.8), (2, 1.2), (3, 1.6)}
3. {(5, –4), (3, –5), (4, –3), (6, 4)} 4. {(0.3, 0.6), (0.4, 0.8), (0.3, 0.7), (0.5,
0.5)}
Use the vertical line test to determine whether the relation is a function.

5. 6.

7. Explain when a relation is not a function.

9. Explain how the vertical line test can be used to determine if a relation is
a function.

Plot each of the following functions, Determine if the relation is a function and then
state the domain and range.
10. {(3, 6), (5, 7), (7, 7) (8, 9)} 11. {(0, 0.4), (1, 0.8), (2, 1.2), (3, 1.6)}

Function? Function?
Domain: Domain:
 Range: Range:
12. { (5, –4), (3, –5), (4, –3), (6, 4) 13. {(0.3, 0.6), (0.4, 0.8), (0.3, 0.7), (0.5, 0.5)}

Function? Function?
Domain: Domain:
Range: Range:

14. Draw a graph with the following domain and range. Identify whether the relation is
a function and whether it is continuous or discrete (circle one).
a. Domain: {-2, 0, 4} b. Domain: 0 ≤ x ≤ 7 c. Domain: -8 ≤ x ≤ 3
Range: {-3, -1, 2, 3, 4} Range: -4 ≤ y ≤ 6 Range: -1 ≤ y ≤ 5
Function? Function? Function?

Continuous or Discrete? Continuous or Discrete? Continuous or

Discrete?

15. Domain: all real numbers 16. Domain: {1} 17. Domain: {-9, -6, -5, 0, 3,
Range: all real numbers Range: {-1, 3, 6} Range: {-2}

Function? ______ Function? Function?

 Continuous or Discrete? Continuous or Discrete? Continuous
or Discrete?

18. Domain: -5 ≤ x ≤ 7 19. Domain: all real numbers 20. Domain: 2 ≤ x ≤ 4

Range: 0 ≤ y ≤ 3 Range: 0 ≤ y ≤ ∞ Range: all real
numbers

21. State the domain and range for each graph and then tell if the graph is
function (write yes or no). If the graph is a function, state whether it is discrete,
continuous or neither.

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Composite Function
Composite functions are when the output of one function is used as the input of
another.

To find a composite function:

1. Identify the outer and inner functions.
2. Write the outer function.
3. Substitute each 𝑥 with the inner function.
4. Simplify if necessary.

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