Topic: Domain and range
Question: What are the domain and range of the function?
(3,4), (4,1), (5,2), (7,1)
Answer choices:
A The domain is 3, 4, 5, 7. The range is 1, 2, 4.
B The domain is 3, 7. The range is 1, 4.
C The domain is 3, 4, 5, 7. The range is 1, 2.
D None of these
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Solution: A
Remember that the coordinates of points in the Cartesian coordinate
system are given in the form (x, y).
Since the domain of a function is all of the x-values, we can see that the
domain of this function is
3, 4, 5, 7
The range of a function is all of the y-values, so we can see that the range
of this function is
4, 1, 2, 1
We don’t need to include the same value more than once, so we’ll list 1
only once, and rearrange the numbers so that they are in ascending order.
The range is
1, 2, 4
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Topic: Domain and range
Question: What are the domain and range of the function?
2
y=
x
Answer choices:
A Domain: all real numbers except 2 Range: all real numbers except 2
B Domain: all real numbers except 0 Range: all real numbers except 0
C Domain: all real numbers except 0 Range: all real numbers except 2
D Domain: all real numbers except 2 Range: all real numbers except 0
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Solution: B
The domain of a function is all of the x-values for which the function is
defined. The range of a function is all of the y-values that correspond to
the x-values in the domain. To solve for the domain of a function, we look
for any places where the function is not defined. For example, this can
happen if there’s a variable in the denominator of the function or if a
radical has a negative number under it.
The function
2
y=
x
is undefined for x = 0, because division by 0 is undefined. However, this
function is defined for all other values of x, so its domain consists of all real
numbers except 0.
To solve for the range of the function, we need to look for the y-values
that correspond to numbers in the domain and for those that don’t.
For every nonzero real number y, there’s some nonzero real number x such
that
2
y=
x
To see this, multiply both sides of this equation by x /y.
(y) (x)(y)
x 2 x
y =
11
2
x=
y
So for any nonzero real number y, we divide 2 by y to get a nonzero real
number x for which y = 2/x.
However, there’s no nonzero real number x such that
2
0=
x
To see this, multiply both sides of this equation by x.
(x)
2
0(x) = (x)
0=2
This gives us the false equation 0 = 2.
Combining these results, we find that the range of this function is all real
numbers except 0.
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Topic: Domain and range
Question: What is the domain of the function?
f (x) = 4x 3
Answer choices:
A The domain is all values of x that make 4x 3 positive
B The domain is all values of x that make 4x 3 negative
C The domain is all values of x that make 4x 3 either 0 or positive
D The domain is all values of x that make 4x 3 either 0 or negative
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Solution: C
When we’re dealing in real numbers, we can only take the square root of 0,
or of positive values.
In other words, we won’t be able to find the square root of 4x 3 unless the
value of 4x 3 is positive, or equal to 0.
Therefore, any values of x that make 4x 3 equivalent to 0, or equivalent to
any positive value, will be included in the domain of the function.
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