5: Further Topics in Functions — Read

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5.1: Function Composition
We now wish to study more complex algebraic functions. The purpose of the first two sections of this chapter is to see how these kinds of functions arise from polynomial and rational functions. To that end, we first study a new way to combine functions.
5.2: Inverse Functions
Thinking of a function as a process like we did in Section 1.4, in this section we seek another function which might reverse that process. As in real life, we will find that some processes (like putting on socks and shoes) are reversible while some (like cooking a steak) are not. We start by discussing a very basic function which is reversible, 𝑓(𝑥)=3𝑥+4 f ( x ) = 3 x + 4 . Thinking of 𝑓 f as a process, we start with an input 𝑥 x and apply two steps, as we saw in Section 1.4
5.3: Other Algebraic Functions
This section serves as a watershed for functions which are combinations of polynomial, and more generally, rational functions, with the operations of radicals. It is business of Calculus to discuss these functions in all the detail they demand so our aim in this section is to help shore up the requisite skills needed so that the reader can answer Calculus’s call when the time comes. We briefly recall the definition and some of the basic properties of radicals from Intermediate Algebra.

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