LESSON 3:

EVALUATION OF
FUNCTIONS
MA.TERESA R. PASCUAL
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

substitute values in a function; and

evaluate a function
 EVALUATING FUNCTIONS
Evaluating a Function means replacing the
variable in the function, in this case x, with a
value from the function’s domain and computing
for the result. To denote that we are evaluating at
for some in the domain of , we write
 Evaluate the following functions at x = 1.5
𝑓 ( 𝑥 )= 2 𝑥 + 1
𝑓 ( 1.5 ) = 2 (1.5 )+ 1
𝑓 ( 1.5 ) = 3 + 1
𝒇 ( 𝟏 . 𝟓 )= 𝟒
 Evaluate the following functions at x = 2
2
𝑞 ( 𝑥 ) = 𝑥 − 2 𝑥 +2
2
𝑞 ( 2 ) = 2 − 2 (2 )+ 2
𝑞 ( 2 )= 4 − 4 + 2
𝒒 ( 𝟐 ) =𝟐
 Evaluate the following functions at x = 1.5
𝑔 ( 𝑥 )=√ 𝑥 + 1
𝑔 ( 1.5 ) = √ 1.5 + 1
𝒈 (𝟏 . 𝟓 ) =√ 𝟐 . 𝟓
 Evaluate the following functions at x = 1.5
2 𝑥 +1
𝑟 (𝑥 )=
𝑥 −1
2 (1.5 ) + 1
𝑟 ( 1.5 ) =
1.5 − 1
3 +1 4
𝑟 ( 1.5 ) = ¿
0.5 0.5
𝒓 ( 𝟏 . 𝟓 ) =𝟖
 Evaluate the following functions at x = 3x-1
𝑓 ( 𝑥 )= 2 x + 1
𝑓 ( 3 𝑥 − 1 ) = 2 (3 x − 1)+1
𝑓 ( 3 𝑥 − 1 ) = 6 x − 2 +1
𝒇 ( 𝟑 𝒙 − 𝟏 ) =𝟔 𝐱 − 𝟏
 Evaluate the following functions at
2
( 𝑥 ) = 𝑥 − 2 𝑥 +2
2
𝑞 ( 𝑥 ) =(2 𝑥 +3 ) − 2 ( 2 𝑥 + 3 )+2
2
𝑞 ( 𝑥 ) =4 𝑥 +12 𝑥 +9 − 4 𝑥 − 6 +2
𝟐
𝒙 )= 𝟒 𝒙 +𝟖 𝒙 + 𝟓
 Find where and as define below
2 𝑥 +1
𝑥 ) = √ 𝑥 +1 𝑟 ( 𝑥 ) =
𝑥 −1
SOLUTION.
This is not possible because is not in the
domain of and is not in the domain of
WHAT YOU NEED TO REMEMBER
• The classic way of writing a function is “f(x) = …:
• To evaluate a function is to replace/substitute its
variables with a given number of expressions.
• It is recommended putting the substituted values
inside the parentheses ( ), so you don’t make
mistakes.
PRACTICE EXERCISES
1. Evaluate the following functions at x = 3.
a.
b.
c.
d.
2. For what values of x can we not evaluate the function

3. Evaluate where