MATH 100 – §1.4 & 2.

1: Composition and
Linear Functions

September 14, 2018

1 Linear Functions
1. A linear function is of the form f (x) = mx + b, where m and b are any real
numbers. So
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f (x) = 1, g(x) = x, h(x) = x − 3, k(x) = −2x + ,
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are all examples of linear functions.

2. The domain of these functions is all real numbers. The range of linear
functions is also all real numbers.

3. Graphs of linear functions are straight lines.

4. The y-intercept of a linear function f (x) = mx + b is (0, b).

5. The x-intercept is calculuate by solving f (x) = mx + b = 0 so we get


b


 −m, 0
 if m 6= 0
x − intercept = (0, 0) if f (x) = 0

none if f (x) = b and b 6= 0


6. To draw the graph of any linear function, all we need is two points on the line;
we can simply connect the two points and extend on both sides to obtain the graph
as the following example shows.

7. To draw f (x) = 3x − 6, we can find the x and y-intercepts first: x-intercept is

(2, 0) and y-intercept is (0, −6) so we connect these two points

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8. The number m in f (x) = mx + b is called the slope of the line and it measures
the steepness and direction of the line as the following picture illustrates

9. To find the slope of a line, we need two different points on the line; so if (A, B)
and (C, D) are points on a line `, then the slope of ` is

D−B
m= .
C −A

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10. The value of m is independent of the choice of two points.

11. If (A, B) is any point on a line ` and m is the slope of the line, then the equation of
the line is given by
y − B = m(x − A),
and after rearranging we get y = mx + b, where b = B − mA. We call this
standard equation of a line passing through (A, B) with slope m.

12. Parallel lines: have the same slope. So if y = mx + b and y = nx + c are two
linear functions which are parallel, then m = n. For example, y = 2x + 1 and
y = 2x − 2 are parallel and

13. Perpendicular lines: are lines that meet at a 90 degree angle. If y = mx + b

and y = nx + c are the two equations for the two lines, then mn = −1 or m = −1
n
.
For example, the lines y = 2x − 2 and y = −x/2 + 1 are perpendicular

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14. Horizontal Lines: have equations of the form y = b; i.e., they all have a slope
of 0:

15. Vertical Lines: have equations of the form x = a. These equations are NOT
FUNCTIONS because the graph of a vertical lines FAILS the vertical line test:

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2 Composition of Functions
There are five elementary operations we can define on functions. These are addition,
subtraction, multiplication, division, and composition.

1. Addition: If f and g are functions, then the sum of f and g is a new function
defined by
(f + g)(x) = f (x) + g(x).

2. Subtraction: If f and g are functions, then the difference of f and g is a new

function defined by
(f − g)(x) = f (x) − g(x).

3. Multiplication: If f and g are functions, then the product of f and g is a

new function defined by
(f g)(x) = f (x)g(x).

4. Division: If f and g are functions, then the quotient of f and g is a new

function defined by  
f f (x)
(x) = ,
g g(x)
where we MUST require that g(x) 6= 0; that is, if x is a number that makes
g(x) = 0, then x is NOT in the domain of fg .

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 √
5. Here are some examples. If f (x) = x and g(x) = x − 1, then
√
√ √ √ √
 
f x
(f +g)(x) = x+x−1, (f −g)(x) = x−x+1, (f g)(x) = x x− x, (x) = ,
g x−1

and the domain of fg is [0, 1) ∪ (1, ∞), whereas the domain of the other three
functions are [0, ∞).

2.1 Composition
6. The composition of two functions f and g is defined as follows:

(f ◦ g)(x) = f (g(x)), read “f of g of x”.

So we are using g as input for f . For example, if f (x) = 2x − 1 and g(x) = x2 ,

then
(f ◦ g)(x) = f (g(x)) = 2(g(x)) − 1 = 2x2 − 1,
whereas

(g ◦ f )(x) = g(f (x)) = (f (x))2 = (2x − 1)2 = 4x2 − 4x + 1.

7. The above example shows that f ◦ g =6 g ◦ f so we must be careful with the order
in which we compose functions.
√
8. Here is another example: if f (x) = x − 3 and g(x) = x2 + 1, then to compute
(f ◦ g)(2) = f (g(2))
√ we must√ first compute g(2) to get 5, and only then substitute
5 into f to get 5 − 3 = 2. Similarly,
√ to compute (g ◦ f )(12) = g(f (12)), we
must first compute f (12) to get 12 − 3 = 3 and then substitute 3 into g to get
g(3) = 9 + 1 = 10.

3 Exercises
1. Draw the graph of the following lines, clearly labeling the x and y intercepts.

(a) f (x) = x + 1.
(b) f (x) = x − 3.
(c) f (x) = −x + 2.
(d) f (x) = −2x + 1.
(e) f (x) = 3x − 6.
x
(f) f (x) = 4
− 2.
−x
(g) f (x) = 3
+ 3.

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2. Find the equation of the following lines:

(a) line passing through (1, 2) and (−2, 3).

(b) line through the origin and (1, −1).
(c) line with y-intercept at y = 2 and slope of 4.
(d) line with x-intercept at x = −1 and passing through (2, 2).
(e) line through (1, 2) and parallel to y = 3x − 1.
(f) line through (−1, 1) and perpendicular to y = 2x + 1.
(g) line through (2, 2) and parallel to 2x − y = 4.
(h) line through (−2, 0) and perpendicular to 2y + 4x − 1 = 0.

3. Consider the following functions

√ 1
f (x) = x − 1, g(x) = , h(x) = x2 − 4.
x−1
(a) find and simplify a formula for f ◦ g.
(b) compute g(h(3)).
(c) evaluate h(f (g(2))).
(d) find and simplify a formula for h ◦ f .
(e) what is the domain of f ?
(f) what is the domain of g?
(g) what is the domain of h?
(h) find the domain of g ◦ h.
(i) find the domain of g(f (x)).
(j) find the domain of h ◦ f .

4. Write each function F as a composition of two functions f and g, each different

from F . That is, F (x) = f (g(x)).
√
(a) F (x) = x − 3.
(b) F (x) = (3 − x)2 .
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(c) F (x) = .
2x + 1