Four Ways to Represent A Function
What is a function?
A function ff is a rule that assigns to each element in a set DD exactly one element, called ,in a set EE
We usually consider functions for which the sets and EE are sets of real numbers.
The is called the domain of the function.
The number f(x)f(x) is the value of f(x)f(x) is the value of ff at and is read “ff of ”
The range of ff is the set of all possible values of as xx varies throughout the domain.
A symbol that represents an arbitrary number in the domain of a function of is called and independent varialbe.
A symbol that represents a number in the range of ff is called a dependent variable.
There are four possible way to represent a function:
verbally (by a description in word)
numerically(by a table of values)
visually(by a graph)
algebraically(by an explicit formula)
So we can consider a function as a machine.
In that way , would be the item that you put into a machine called ff and , would be the new object that the machine gives you back.