CompositeFunctions

WhatAreCompositeFunctions?
Compositionoffunctionsiswhenonefunctionisinsideofanotherfunction.Forexample,ifwelookatthe
functionh(x)=(2x 1)2.Wecansaythatthisfunction,h(x),wasformedbythecompositionoftwoother
functions,theinsidefunctionandtheoutsidefunction.Inthecaseofh(x)=(2x 1)2,theinsidefunctionis
2x 1andtheoutsidefunctionisz2,theletterzwasusedjusttorepresentadifferentvariable,wecould
haveusedanyletter thatwewanted.Noticethatifweputtheinsidefunction,2x 1,intotheoutside
function,z2,wewouldgetz2 =(2x 1)2,whichisouroriginalfunctionh(x).
Thenotationusedforthecompositionoffunctionslookslikethis, (f og)(x). Sowhatdoesthismean
(f og)(x),thecompositionofthefunctionfwithgisdefinedasfollows:
(f og)(x)=f(g(x)),noticethatinthecasethefunctiongisinsideofthefunctionf.

Incompositefunctionsitisveryimportantthatwepaycloseattentiontotheorderinwhichthecomposition
ofthefunctionsiswritten.Inmanycases (f og)(x)isnotthesameas (g of )(x). Letslookatwhytheorder
issoimportant:
(f og)(x)=f(g(x)),thegfunctionisinsideoftheffunction
(g of )(x) =g(f(x)),theffunctionisinsideofthegfunction
(f og)(x)and (g of )(x)areoftendifferentbecauseinthecomposite (f og)(x),f(x)istheoutsidefunctionand
g(x)istheinsidefunction.Whereasinthecomposite (g of )(x),g(x)istheoutsidefunctionandf(x)isthe
insidefunction.Thisdifferenceinorderwilloftenbethereasonwhywewillgetdifferentanswersfor
(f og)(x)and (g of )(x). Thismeansweneedtomakesurethatwepaycloseattentiontothewaythe
problemiswrittenwhenwearetryingtofindthecompositionoftwofunctions.
HowDoYouFindtheCompositionofTwoFunctions?
Herearethestepswecanusetofindthecompositionoftwofunctions:
Step1: Rewritethecompositioninadifferentform.Forexample,thecomposition
(f og)(x)needstorewrittenasf(g(x)).
Step2: Replaceeachoccurrenceofxfoundintheoutsidefunctionwiththeinsidefunction.For
example,inthecompositionof (f og)(x)=f(g(x)),weneedtoreplaceeachxfoundin
f(x),theoutsidefunction,withg(x),theinsidefunction.
Step3: Simplifytheanswer.

ExamplesNowletsusethestepsshownabovetoworkthrough someexamples.
Example1:Iff(x)=4x+9andg(x)=2x 7,find (f og)(x).
(f og)(x) = f(g(x))

Rewritethecompositioninadifferentform.

= -4(2x - 7) +9

Replaceeachoccurrenceofxinf(x)with g(x)=2x 7.

= -8x + 28 + 7

Simplifytheanswerbydistributingandcombininglike
terms.

= -8x +37

Thus, (f og)(x)=8x+37.
Example2:Iff(x)=4x+9andg(x)=2x 7,find (g of )(x).
(g of)(x) = g(f(x))

Rewritethecompositioninadifferentform.

= 2( -4x + 9) -7

Replaceeachoccurrenceofxin g(x)withf(x)=4x+9.

= -8x + 18 - 7

Simplifytheanswerbydistributingandcombininglike
terms.

= -8x +11

Thus, (g of )(x)=8x+11.
NoticethatinExamples1and2thefunctionsf(x)=4x+9andg(x)=2x 7werethesame,but
(f og)(x)and (g of )(x)produceddifferentanswers.Thesetwoexamplesshouldhelpusunderstand
whyweneedtobeveryspecificwhenweareaskedtofindeither (f og)(x)or (g of )(x).Thewaywe
writedowntheproblemcanmakeabigdifferenceinouranswer.
Example3:Ifh(x)=3x 5andg(x)=2x2 7x,find (g oh)(x).
(g oh)(x) = g(h(x))

Rewritethecompositioninadifferentform.

= 2(3x - 5) 2 - 7(3x -5)

Replaceeachoccurrenceofxin g(x)with h(x)=3x 5.

= 2(9x 2 - 30x + 25) - 7(3x - 5)

Simplifytheanswerbyfirstdealingwiththeexponentand
squaring(3x 5),thendistributing,andfinallycombining
liketerms.

= 18x 2 - 60x + 50 - 21x + 35

= 18x 2 - 81x + 85

Thus, (g oh)(x)=18x2 81x+85.

AdditionExamples
Ifyouwouldliketoseemoreexamplesofcompositionoffunctions,justclickonthelinkbelow.
AdditionalExamples
PracticeProblems
Nowitisyourturntotryafewpracticeproblemsonyourown.Workoneachoftheproblemsbelowand
thenclickonthelinkattheendtocheckyouranswers.
Problem1:Iff(x)=x2 4x+2andg(x)=3x 7,find (fog)(x).
Problem2:Ifg(x)=6x+5andh(x)=9x 11,find (g oh)(x).
Problem 3:If f(x) = 2x- 5 andg(x)=5x2 3,find (g of)(x).
Problem 4:Iff(x)=2x+9andg(x)=4x2 +5x 3,find (fog)(x).
Problem5:Iff(x)=x 3andg(x)=4x2 3x 9,find (g of)(x).
Problem6:If g(x) =3 x- 4 andh(x)=x3 +4,find (h og)(x).
SolutionstoPracticeProblems