Evaluating

Functions
Law of Substitution
If a + x = b and x = c, then a+ c= b

Illustration:
To find the value of n2 when n is 15:
Substitute 15 in place of n in n2 to get
152 or 225.
Evaluating Functions
To evaluate function is to replace its variable
with a given number or expression.
Think of the domain as the
set of the function’s input
values and the range as the
set of the function’s output
values as shown in the figure
below. The input is
represented by x and the
output by f(x).
Example 1
If f(x) = x + 8, evaluate each.
a. f(4) = 12
b.f(–2) = 6
c. f(–x) = -x + 8
d.f(x + 3) = x + 11
Example 2
 x + 2, if x  0
2
f ( x) =  and
5 x + 2, if x  0
Find:
a. f(-4) b. f(3)
Example 3
 x + 2 x − 1, if x  2
2
f ( x) = 
5 x − 3, if 2  x  20
and
3 x − 2, if − 4  x  −2

g ( x ) =  x + 3, if − 2  x  1
x2 , if x  1

Find: 5
a. f(0) + g() b. f ( 5) − g  6 
  x 2 + 2 x − 1, if x  2
f ( x) = 
5 x − 3, if 2  x  20
and
3 x − 2, if − 4  x  −2

g ( x ) =  x + 3, if − 2  x  1
x2 , if x  1


Find:
a. f(0) + g()
  x 2 + 2 x − 1, if x  2
f ( x) = 
5 x − 3, if 2  x  20
and
3 x − 2, if − 4  x  −2

g ( x ) =  x + 3, if − 2  x  1
x2 , if x  1


Find:
5
b. f ( 5) − g  
6
 Example 4
The price function p(x) = 640 – 0.2(x)
represents the price for which you can
sell x printed T-shirts.
What must be the price of the shirt for
the first 3 entries in the table?
Target No. of Shirt Sales 500 900 1300 1700 2100 2500

Price per T-shirt

Solution to Example 4
❑ p(500) = 640 − 0.2(500) = 640 − 100 = 540
❑ p(900) = 640 – 0.2(900) = 640 – 180 = 460
❑ p(1 300) = 640 − 0.2(1 300) = 640 − 260 = 380