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Functions

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Animportantmathematicalconceptistheideaoffunction.Afunctionisamathematicalprocessthatuniquelyrelatesthe
valueofonevariabletothevalueofanothervariableintheproblem.Schematically,wecanthinkofafunctionasa
"processor"thattakesinone(ormore)inputvariablesandproducesanoutputvariable.Wecalltheoutputvariablethe
dependentvariableandtheinputvariableiscalledtheindependentvariable.Changingthevalueofanindependent
variableproducesachangeinthevalueofthedependentvariablethatisalwaysthesame.Onthisslidewewilldenotean
independentvariableasXandthedependentvariableasY.WedenotethatYisafunctionofXbythesymbol:
Y=f(X)
Somefunctionsoccursoofteninmathandsciencethatweassignspecialnamesandsymbolstothem.Atthebottomof
theslidewehavelistedsomeexamplesoffunctionsthatoccurinaerospaceengineering.Thetrigonometricfunctionssine,
cosine,andtangentrelatethevarioussidesandanglesofatriangle.Thevalueofthefunctiondependsonlyontheangle
betweentwosidesofarighttriangle.Sowecanwritethefunctionsas:
Y=sin(X)
W=cos(X)
Z=tan(X)
wherethevalueofXisanangleandthevalueofY,W,andZarenumbers.Sincethevalueofthefunctionisalwaysthe
same,thevaluecanbetabulatedandusedtosolveproblems.Someexamplesofproblemsinvolvingtrianglesandangles
includetheforcesonamodelrocketduringpoweredflight,theapplicationoftorques,andtheresolutionofthecomponents
ofavector.
AnotherfunctionwhichyoumayhaveseenisthefactorialfunctionwiththesymbolX!.Thevalueofthisfunctionisformed
bymultiplyingXtimesX1timesX2,etc.untilyougetto1:
Y=X!
Y=4!=4*3*2*1=24
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Thisfunctionoccursinmanyprobabilityandstatisticsproblems.
Therearesomeinterestingpropertiesoffunctions.Functionscanbegroupedtogethertoformotherfunctions.Ontheslide
thepolynomial:
Y=X^3+X^2+5*X+12
ismadebyaddingpowersofX.Thefunctionhereis:
Y=X^n
wherenisanynumber.YisgeneratedbymultiplyingXtimesitselfntimes.
Therearesomespecialfunctions,calledinversefunctions,which"undo"theoperationofsomeotherfunction.The
squarerootfunctionistheinverseofthesquarefunction.Soif
Y=X^2
16=4^2
Then:
Y=sqrt(X)
4=sqrt(16)
Sinceliftanddragdependonthesquareofthevelocity,weoftenusesquarerootstosolvevelocityproblems.This
functionisusedinthedeterminationoftheterminalvelocityofafallingobject.
Thefunctiontan^1(X)onthefigureiscalledthearctangentofX.Thisfunctionistheinverseofthetrigonometrictangent
function.ItreturnstheangleYwhosetangentisX.Thereareinversesforthesineandcosineaswell.
Theexponentialfunction,exp(X)ore^X,isaspecialfunctionthatcomesfromcalculus.Incalculus,weareoftentryingto
determinetherateatwhichsomefunctionchanges.Therateisexpressedasanotherfunctioncalledadifferentialandthe
rateistheslopeofthegraphofthefunction.IfwehaveafunctionY=f(X),thentheslopeofthefunctioniscalledZand
Z=dY/dX
Theexpfunctionisthespecialfunctionwhoseslope(rateofchange)isequaltothevalueofthefunction.
Y=exp(X)=d[exp(X)]/dX=dY/dX
Thisfunctionoftenoccursinnaturewhentherateofchangeofavariableequalstheamountofthevariable.Thechangein
atmosphericpressurewithaltitudeisanexponential.
Theinverseoftheexponentialfunctionisthelogarithmicfunctionwiththesymbolln(X).Thelnfunctionappearsinmany
thermodynamicsproblems,suchascalculatingthechangeintheentropyofagasduringathermodynamicprocess.
Thecosh(X)functionontheslideisthehyperboliccosinefunction.Itisaspecial,tabulatedfunctionthatresultsfrom
solvingacertainformofdifferentialequationandissimilartothetrigonometriccosfunction.Thisfunctionappearsinthe
solutiontotheproblemofalinethatsagsunderitsownweightlikethesupportcablesofabridge.
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Editor:NancyHall
NASAOfficial:NancyHall
LastUpdated:May052015
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