MAT132 Tutorial 1
By Liying He
About Me
• Math and chemistry double major
• TAed 12 math courses so far
• Hobbies/habits: Sleeping, reading, eating, etc.
1
Function
A function f is a rule that assigns to each element x in a set D exactly one element,
called f (x), in a set E.
• Domain: The set D
• Range: The set of all possible values of f (x) as x varies throughout the domain.
Example 1.
Find the domain and range of following functions.
√
• f (x) = 2x − 3 + 1
x2 − 4
• g(x) =
x−2
2
Symmetry
Even function: If a function f satisfies f (−x) = f (x) for every number x in its domain,
then f is called an even function.
Odd function: If f satisfies f (−x) = −f (x) for every number x in its domain, then f is
called an odd function.
Example 2.
Determine if the following functions are even, odd, or neither.
x2 + 2|x + 5|
• f (x) =
x3
• Suppose f and g are both odd functions, is f + g odd? Is f · g odd? Explain your
answers.
3
Absolute Value
The absolute value of a real number x, denoted as |x|, is defined as
x x≥0
|x| =
−x x<0
Absolute Value Properties
1. |ab| = |a||b| 5. |x| = a if and only if x = ±a
a |a| 6. |x| < a if and only if −a < x < a
2. = (b ̸= 0)
b |b|
7. |x| > a if and only if x > a or x < −a
3. |an | = |a|n
8. |x+y| ≤ |x|+|y| when xy ≥ 0 equality
√
4. a2 = |a| holds (triangle inequality)
Example 3.
Identify the values of x that satisfying both |x − 5| < 2 and |x − 3| < 1.
Example 4.
Given that f (x) = |x + 2| + |1 − x|.
• Write f (x) as a piece-wise function.
• Sketch f (x). You should clearly label all the key points.
4
Vertical and Horizontal Shifts
Suppose c > 0. To obtain the graph of
• y = f (x) + c, shift the graph of y = f (x) a distance c units upward
• y = f (x) − c, shift the graph of y = f (x) a distance c units downward
• y = f (x − c), shift the graph of y = f (x) a distance c units to the right
• y = f (x + c), shift the graph of y = f (x) a distance c units to the left
Vertical and Horizontal Stretching and Reflecting
Suppose c > 1. To obtain the graph of
• y = cf (x), stretch the graph of y = f (x) vertically by a factor of c
• y = 1c f (x), shrink the graph of y = f (x) vertically by a factor of c
• y = f (cx), shrink the graph of y = f (x) horizontally by a factor of c
• y = f ( xc ), stretch the graph of y = f (x) horizontally by a factor of c
• y = −f (x), reflect the graph of y = f (x) about the x-axis
• y = f (−x), reflect the graph of y = f (x) about the y-axis
Example 5.
Given the graph of f (x) (red one on the right), the graph of g(x) (blue one on the left) is
obtained from f (x) through a few transformations. Find the expression of g(x) in terms
of f (x).
5
Linear Functions
A linear function has the form
y = f (x) = mx + b
Its graph is a line such that
• m is the slope, or rate of change of y with respect to x.
• b is the y intercept or value when x is zero.
Point-slope form of a line
The equation of a line of slope m through the point (x0 , y0 ) is
y − y0 = m(x − x0 )
Example 6.
Let l be a line that passes through ( 12 , − 23 ) and (1, a). For what value(s) of a is l parallel
to 4x − 8y = 1.
6
Complete the square
We can rewrite a quadratic function f (x) = ax2 + bx + c as f (x) = a(x + p)2 + q.
Example 7.
Given that f (x) = −x2 + cx, where c is a constant. Find the maximum value of f (x).
(Hint: Complete the square.)
Combinations
Let f (x) and g(x) be functions with domain Df and Dg
1. (f ± g)(x) = f (x) ± g(x) D = Df ∩ Dg
2. (f · g)(x) = f (x) · g(x) D = Df ∩ Dg
f (x)
3. ( fg )(x) = g(x) , g(x) ̸= 0 D = Df ∩ Dg and g ̸= 0
4. Composition: (f ◦ g)(x) = f (g(x)) D = {x|x ∈ Dg and g(x) ∈ Df }
Example 8.
√
Let f (x) = x2 , g(x) = x − 1. Find f ◦ g and its domain.
