Domain and Range

Function consists of three parts such as Domain, Range and correspondence

between them.
The domain of a function is the set of x values for which the function is defined.
There is an infinite variety of functions with restricted domains, but only two types
of restricted domains appear on the SAT: division by zero and even roots of
negative numbers.
The range of a function is the set of y values that are assigned to the x values in
the domain.
The domain of a function is the complete set of possible values of the
independent variable in the function.
For example,
The function is defined for all values of , which causes

division by zero
The function is defined only if

The function Here since under the square root.

The correspondence between x and y is usually expressed with the function

notation: y = f(x), where y is called the dependent variable and x is called the
independent variable. In other words, the value of y depends on the value of x
plugged into the function.

The domain of a function is the set of all possible x values which will make the
function "work" and will output real y-values.

When finding the domain, remember:

• The denominator (bottom) of a fraction cannot be zero

• The values under a square root sign must be positive

The range of a function is the complete set of all possible resulting values of the
dependent variable of a function, after we have substituted the values in the
domain.

The range of a function is the possible y values of a function that result when we
substitute all the possible x-values into the function.

Example 1:

Find the domain of function f defined by f (x) = 1 / ( x - 1)

Solution
x can take any real number except 1 since x = 1 would make the denominator
equal to zero and the division by zero is not allowed in mathematics. Hence the
domain in interval notation is given by

(-infinity , 1) U (1 , +infinity)

Example 2:

State the domain and range of the following relation. Is the relation a function?

{(2, –3), (4, 6), (3, –1), (6, 6), (2, 3)}

Solution:

The above list of points, being a relationship between certain x's and certain y's,
is a relation. The domain is all the x-values, and the range is all the y-values. To
give the domain and the range, I just list the values without duplication:

domain: {2, 3, 4, 6}

range: {–3, –1, 3, 6}

 Practice Question

1) Find the domain of function f defined by

f (x) = sqrt (2x - 8)

a) [4 , +infinity)
b) b) [-4 , -infinity)
c) c) [ +infinity,-4)
d) d) [4 , 4)

2) Find the domain of function f defined by:

f (x) = sqrt( -x) / [(x - 3) (x + 5)]

a) (0 , 4) U ( -4 , infinity]
b) (-infinity , -5) U ( -5 , 0]
c) (5 , -5) U ( -5 , 1]

3) Find the range of function f defined by:

f (x) = x 2 – 2
a) [ -2 , 0)
b) [ -2 , 2)
c) [ -2 , +infinity)

4) Find the domain and range for the function

f(x) = x2 + 2.
a) all real values of x & all real numbers f(x) ≥ 2
b) all real numbers f(x) = 2 & all real values of
c) all real values of x2 & all real numbers f(x) = 2
 5) Find the domain and range for the function

a) (2,2)
b) all real numbers except -2 & all real numbers except zero".

c) (-2,3)

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