Produced by Charles Wells.  Home.   Website Contents     Website Index   

Back to top of functions chapter.

Last edited 3/27/2008 9:54:00 AM

OBJECTS ASSOCIATED WITH A FUNCTION

When a math text discusses a function, some or all of the following data will be referred to:

¨  A name for the function.

¨  The domain of the function.

¨  The codomain of the function

¨  An argument or input to the function.

¨  The value of the function at an element of the domain.

¨  The graph of the function.

¨  The image of the function

¨  The quotient of the function.  not written

As you can see, some of these items are mentioned in the specification, but others are not.  All are discussed in detail in what follows.

There is no single item in the preceding list that a discussion of a function must refer to.   (A function doesn’t even have to have a name!)  Below, I list many of the possibilities for referring to these data and the common restrictions on their use.