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The main topics of this section are also presented in the following videos:
The main topics of this section are also presented in the following videos:
We encounter composite functions in the real world every day. As an example, suppose you and some friends are driving from Lincoln, NE to Omaha, NE. Once you arrive in Omaha you drive around the city to see all the beautiful sites. We know that Omaha is 60 miles away from Lincoln, and for each hour spent in Omaha, you drive an additional 5 miles. Then the function
represents the miles traveled if you and your friends spend hours in Omaha.
Now, suppose gas for your vehicle costs $0.15 per mile. We can represent this knowledge with the function
where is in miles. If we want to know how much you and your friends will spend on gas during your trip if you spend hours in Omaha, we can now use these two functions we created. If you spend hours in Omaha, you will have traveled miles. The cost of gas is where is miles. Then we need only replace by to get
as the cost of gas if you spend hours in Omaha.
In function notation, we write this as follows:
Here we are evaluating the function at the value since is the number of miles traveled. The function is called a composite function, or a composition of functions.
Given the functions and identify the function and find the value of
First, let's find the function \(f(g(x))\text{.}\) To identify this function, we are plugging in \(.5x\) for \(x\) in the function \(f(x)=x^2-2x\text{.}\) We get the function
Now, to find the value \(f(g(1))\) we simply evaluate the function \(f(g(x))\) at \(1\text{.}\) We have
Looking back at our first example, from the functions and we created the new function
Notice that this composition of functions, has time in hours as its input and cost as its output.
In general, given two functions and the composition has the same input as but has the same output as
When you buy a house, your monthly mortgage payment is a function of the size of the loan. Table157 shows mortgage payments on -year loans of various sizes at % interest.
Loan amount, | |||||
Mortgage payment, |
For the function the input value is the amount of the loan, and the output is the mortgage payment.
However, when you are shopping for a house, you may think of the mortgage payment as the input variable: If you can afford a certain monthly mortgage payment, how large a loan can you finance? Now the mortgage payment is the input value, and the loan amount is the output. By interchanging the inputs and outputs, we define a new function, shown in Table158.
Mortgage payment, | |||||
Loan amount, |
This new function gives the same information as the original function, but from a different point of view. We call the function the inverse function for The elements of the range of are used as the input values for and the output values of are the corresponding domain elements of For example, from the tables you can verify that and In fact, this property defines the inverse function.
Suppose is the inverse function for Then
Suppose is the inverse function for and we know the following function values for
Find and
We know that \(g(5) = -3\) because \(f (-3) = 5\text{,}\) and \(g(0) = 5\) because \(f (5) = 0\text{.}\) Tables may be helpful in visualizing the two functions, as shown below.
\(y=f(x)\) | |
\(x\) | \(y\) |
\(-3\) | \(5\) |
\(2\) | \(1\) |
\(5\) | \(0\) |
Interchange the columns
\(x=g(y)\) | |
\(y\) | \(x\) |
\(5\) | \(-3\) |
\(1\) | \(2\) |
\(0\) | \(5\) |
For the function \(f\text{,}\) the input variable is \(x\) and the output variable is \(y\text{.}\) For the inverse function \(g\text{,}\) the roles of the variables are interchanged: \(y\) is now the input and \(x\) is the output.
Suppose \(g\) is the inverse function for \(f\text{,}\) and suppose we know the following function values for f :
Find \(g(0)\) and \(g(1)\text{.}\)
If a function is given by a table of values, we can interchange the columns (or rows) of the table to obtain the inverse function. Swapping the columns works because we are really interchanging the input and output variables. If a function is defined by an equation, we can find a formula for its inverse function in the same way: Interchange the roles of the variables in the equation so that the old output variable becomes the new input variable.
Write the equation for \(f\) in the form
In this equation, \(t\) is the input and \(H\) is the output. We interchange the roles of the variables by solving for \(t\) to obtain
In this equation, \(H\) is the input and \(t\) is the output. The formula for the inverse function is \(t=g(H) = \dfrac{H - 6}{2}\text{.}\) The function \(g\) gives the number of days it will take the corn seedlings to grow to a height of \(H\) inches.
To make a table for \(f\text{,}\) we choose values for \(t\) and evaluate \(f (t) = 6 + 2t\) at those \(t\)-values, as shown in Table162.
\(H=f(t)\) | |
\(t\) | \(H\) |
\(0\) | \(6\) |
\(1\) | \(8\) |
\(2\) | \(10\) |
\(3\) | \(12\) |
\(t=g(H)\) | |
\(H\) | \(t\) |
\(6\) | \(0\) |
\(8\) | \(1\) |
\(10\) | \(2\) |
\(12\) | \(3\) |
To make a table for \(g\text{,}\) we could choose values for \(H\) and evaluate \(\dfrac{H-6}{2}\text{,}\) but because \(g\) is the inverse function for \(f\text{,}\) we can simply interchange the columns in our table for \(f\text{,}\) as shown in Table163.
You can check that the values in the second table do satisfy the formula for the inverse function, \(g(H)\text{.}\) Note once again that the two tables show the same relationship between \(t\) and \(H\text{,}\) but the roles of input and output have been interchanged. The function \(f\) tells us the height of the seedlings after \(t\) days, and \(g\) tells us how long it will take the seedlings to grow to height \(H\text{.}\)
Carol can burn calories per hour bicycling and calories per hour swimming. She would like to lose pounds, which is equivalent to calories.
\(600x + 400y = 16,000\)
\(y = f (x) = 40 - 1.5x\text{;}\) \(f (10) = 25\text{;}\) If Carol cycles for \(10\) hrs, she must swim for \(25\) hrs.
\(x = g(y) = 26\frac{2}{3} - \frac{2}{3} y\text{;}\) \(g(10) = 20\text{;}\) If Carol swims for \(10\) hrs, she must cycle for \(20\) hrs.
If the inverse of a function is also a function, we denote the inverse by the symbol read " inverse." This notation makes it clear that the two functions are related in a special way. For example, the function in Example161 has inverse function
If find
We first find the inverse function for \(y = x^3 + 2\) by solving for \(x\text{:}\) \begin{align*} x^3 \amp = y - 2 \amp\amp\text{Subtract 2 from both sides.} \\ x \amp = \sqrt[3]{y - 2}\amp\amp\text{Take cube roots.} \end{align*} The inverse function is \(x = f^{-1}(y) = \sqrt[3]{y - 2}\text{.}\) Now we evaluate the inverse function at \(y = 10\text{:}\)
Although the same symbol, is used for both reciprocals and inverse functions, the two notions are not equivalent. That is, the inverse of a given function is usually not the same as the reciprocal of that function. In Example161, note that is not the same as the reciprocal of because
To avoid confusion, we use the notation to refer to the reciprocal of the function
In Example161, you can check that In fact, the two statements
are equivalent; they convey the same information. This fact is a restatement of our earlier observation about inverse functions, this time using inverse function notation.
Suppose the inverse of is a function, denoted by Then
We first find the inverse function for \(f\) by solving for \(w\text{:}\)
The inverse function is \(w=f^{-1}(z)=\frac{1}{z}-3\text{.}\) Now we evaluate the inverse function at \(w=1\text{:}\)
\(f^{-1}(1) = -2\text{,}\) \(f (-2) = 1\)
\(f^{-1}(1) = -2\text{,}\) but \(\frac{1}{f (1)}= 4\)
We can use a graph of a function to find values of the inverse function Figure169 shows the graph of You already know how to evaluate a function from its graph: We start with the horizontal axis. For instance, to evaluate we find on the -axis, move vertically to the point on the graph with in this case and read the -coordinate of the point. We see that
To evaluate the inverse function, we start with the vertical axis. For example, to find we find on the vertical axis and move horizontally to the point on the graph with In this case, the point is so
The function gives Celsius temperature as a function of Fahrenheit temperature. The graph of the function is shown in Figure171. Use the graph to evaluate and and then explain their meaning in this context.
To evaluate \(h(68)\text{,}\) we find the input \(F = 68\) on the horizontal axis, then find the point on the graph with \(F = 68\) and read its vertical coordinate. We see that the point \((68, 20)\) lies on the graph, so \(h(68) = 20\text{.}\) When the Fahrenheit temperature is \(68\degree\text{,}\) the Celsius temperature is \(20\degree\text{.}\)
The inverse function reverses the roles of input and output. Because \(C = h(F)\text{,}\) \(F = h^{-1}(C)\text{,}\) so the inverse function gives us the Fahrenheit temperature if we know the Celsius temperature. In particular, \(h^{-1}(10)\) is the Fahrenheit temperature when the Celsius temperature is \(10\degree\text{.}\)
To use the graph of \(h\) to find values of \(h^{-1}\text{,}\) we start with the vertical axis and find the point on the graph with \(C = 10\text{.}\) This point is \((50, 10)\text{,}\) so \(F = 50\) when \(C = 10\text{,}\) or \(h^{-1}(10) = 50\text{.}\) When the Celsius temperature is \(10\degree\text{,}\) the Fahrenheit temperature is \(50\degree\text{.}\)
When we interchange the input and output variables to obtain the inverse function, we interchange the domain and range of the function. For the functions graphed in Example216, you can see that This relationship between the domain and range of a function and its inverse holds in general.
Suppose is the inverse function for Then
as long as is in the domain of and is in the domain of
The graph of \(f\) is shown in Figure174. It looks like the graph of \(y = \dfrac{1}{x}\text{,}\) shifted \(3\) units to the left.
To find the inverse function, we solve for \(x\text{.}\) Take the reciprocal of both sides of the equation. \begin{align*} \dfrac{1}{y} \amp= x + 3\amp\amp\text{Subtract 3 from both sides.}\\ x \amp = \dfrac{1}{y}- 3 \end{align*} The inverse function is \(x = f^{-1}(y) = \dfrac{1}{y}- 3\text{,}\) or, using \(x\) for the input variable, \(f^{-1}(x) = \dfrac{1}{x}- 3\text{.}\) The graph of \(f^{-1}\) looks like the graph of \(y = \dfrac{1}{x}\text{,}\) shifted down \(3\) units, as shown in Figure174.
Because \(f\) is undefined at \(x = -3\text{,}\) the domain of \(f\) is all real numbers except \(-3\text{.}\) The graph has a horizontal asymptote at \(y = 0\text{,}\) so the range is all real numbers except \(0\text{.}\)
The inverse function \(f^{-1}(x) = \dfrac{1}{x}- 3\) is undefined at \(x = 0\text{,}\) so its domain is all real numbers except \(0\text{.}\) The graph of \(f^{-1}\) has a horizontal asymptote at \(y = -3\text{,}\) so its range is all real numbers except \(-3\text{.}\)