Evaluating Functions

General Mathematics
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).
If f(x) = x + 8,
evaluate each. Given the following
a. f(4) expressions, find its
b. f(–2) value if x = 3
c. f(–x) 1. x – 9
d. f(x + 3) 2. 3x + 7
3.
4.
5.
Example 2
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 2
 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
Some Types of Functions
Constant Function
A linear function f is a constant function if
f(x) = mx + b, where m = 0 and b is any real
number. Thus, f(x) = b.

Identity Function
A linear function f is an identity function if f(x) =
mx + b, where m = 1 and b = 0. Thus, f(x) = x.
Some Types of Functions

Polynomial Function
A polynomial function is defined by , where n is
a
non-negative integer and ,…, n ∈ R.
- Linear Function
- Quadratic Function
- Cubic Function
Some Types of Functions

Linear Function
A function f is a linear function if f(x) = mx + b,
where m and b are real numbers, and m and f(x)
are not both equal to zero.

Quadratic Function
A quadratic function is any equation of the form
f(x) = ax2+ bx + c where a, b, and c are real
numbers and a ≠ 0.
Some Types of Functions

Cubic Function
A quadratic function is any equation of the form
f(x) = ax3+ bx2 + cx + d, where a, b, c, and d are
real numbers and a ≠ 0.
Some Types of Functions
Power Function
A power function is a function in the form
where b is any real constant number. Many
of our parent functions such as linear
functions and quadratic functions are in
fact power functions.
Some Types of Functions
Rational Function
A rational function is any function which can be
represented by a rational fraction
say, in which numerator, p(x), and
denominator, q(x), are polynomial functions
of , where q(x) ≠ 0.
Some Types of Functions
Exponential Function
These are functions of the form:, where x is
in an exponent and a and b are constants.
(Note that only b is raised to the power x;
not a.) If the base b is greater than 1 then
the result is exponential growth.
Some Types of Functions
Logarithmic Function
Logarithmic functions are the inverses of
exponential functions, and any exponential
function can be expressed in logarithmic form.
Logarithms are very useful in permitting us to
work with very large numbers while
manipulating numbers of a much more
manageable size. It is written in the form
x > 0, where b > 0 and b ≠ 1
Some Types of Functions
Absolute Value Function
The absolute value of any number, c is
represented in the form of |c|. If any function f:
R→ R is defined by , it is known as absolute
value function. For each non-negative value of x,
f(x) = x and for each negative value of x, f(x) = -x,
i.e., f(x) = {x, if x ≥ 0; – x, if x < 0.
Some Types of Functions
Greatest Integer Function
If a function f: R→ R is defined by f(x)=[x], x∈X.
It round-off to the real number to the integer
less than the number. Suppose, the given
interval is in the form of (k, k+1), the value of
greatest integer function is k which is an
integer.
• Given f (x) = 2x – 4, find the value of the function
if x = 3.
• Given , find g(-3).
• Given , find p(0) and p(-1)
• Given , find
• Given , find g(9).
• Given , find x(-5)
• Evaluate if
• Evaluate the function where is the greatest
integer function given x = 2.4
• Evaluate the function where |x – 8| means the
absolute value if x = 3.
• Evaluate the function at f(2x-3)
1. f(x) = 9 – 6x f(–1)
2. g(x) = x2 – 4x g(2 – x)
3. h(x) = 2x h (1/2)
4. f(x) = –2x2 – 3 f(–3)
5. f(x) = f(3)
6. f(x) = 3x – 5 f(2)
7. g(x) = 3|2x| g(6)
8. k(a) = |a|- 2 k(-9)
9. p(a) = -4a – 2 p(2a)
10. g(t) = g(-2)
Evaluate each function at the indicated values of
the independent variable and simplify the result