Write the equation of a function with domain and range given, how to do that?

The domain is {-5<= x <= 5}
The range is {0<= y <= 5}
How to do I determine the equation with these two things given?

1 Answer
Mar 16, 2016

f(x) = sqrt(25-x^2)

Explanation:

One method is to construct a semicircle of radius 5, centered at the origin.

The equation for a circle centered at (x_0, y_0) with radius r is given by (x-x_0)^2+(y-y_0)^2=r^2.
Substituting in (0,0) and r=5 we obtain x^2+y^2=25 or y^2 = 25-x^2
Taking the principal root of both sides gives y = sqrt(25-x^2), which fulfills the desired conditions.

graph{sqrt(25-x^2) [-10.29, 9.71, -2.84, 7.16]}


Note that the above only has a domain of [-5,5] if we restrict ourselves to the real numbers RR. If we allow for complex numbers CC, the domain becomes all of CC.

By the same token, however, we can simply define a function with the restricted domain [-5,5] and in that manner create infinitely many functions which fulfill the given conditions.

For example, we can define f as a function from [-5,5] to RR where f(x) = 1/2x+5/2. Then the domain of f is, by definition, [-5,5] and the range is [0,5]

If we are allowed to restrict our domain, then with a little manipulation, we can construct polynomials of degree n, exponential functions, logarithmic functions, trigonometric functions, and others which do not fall into any of those categories, all of which have domain [-5,5] and range [0,5]