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3 Difference between function and equation

functions diophantine-equations

What is the precise difference between function and

equation ? In which case will it be wrong if used( common
mistakes )? Also will the Venn diagram overlap if I were to
draw one ? Any help and discussions will be appreciated .

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Abu Bardewa asked

84 ● 1 ● 2 ● 14 Jan 7 '16 at 22:26

Related: math.stackexchange.com/questions/2738360/… –
Ethan Bolker May 1 '18 at 0:00

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3 Answers order by votes

A function
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6 thing into another thing. It might be written as a
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rule (e.g. "Take the input and square it"), as a
of Service.
formula ("e.g. 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥2 or 𝑥 ↦ 𝑥2 ), as a set of
ordered pairs (e.g. {(1, 1), (2, 4), (3, 9), …} , or
any other way of showing how the output relates
to the input. The function doesn't have to use
numbers, either - a function could take two words
and return their letters interlaced (so f(cat, dog) =
cdaotg) or it could tell you what day of the week a
given date falls on, or the post code/zip code of a
given geographical location.

[In very formal terms, a function is a set of input-

output pairs that follows a few particular rules.]

An equation is a declaration that two things are

equal to each other. For example, 22 = 4 is an
equation stating that the square of 2 is 4. An
equation may include variables of unknown value,
and it may be true for all, some or none of the
possible values of those variables. For example,
𝑥2 = 4 is an equation that is true when 𝑥 = ± 2 ,
and false for other values of 𝑥, while 𝑥2 = −4 is
an equation that is false for all real values of 𝑥.

What may be confusing you is that we often use

equations to declare a relationship between two
variables, often in the form of a function or
formula. For example, 𝑦 = 𝑥2 is an equation
stating that the value of 𝑦 is determined by the
value of 𝑥 via the function 𝑥2 .

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ConMan answered
8,232 ● 14 ● 24 Jan 7 '16 at 23:07

Very well explained. Thanks . – Abu Bardewa Jan 8 '16 at

7:45

A function means that every point in the domain for which

the function is defined only has 1 image. – Algebear Apr 30
'18 at 23:44

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I think we also tend to muddy the semantic

1 waters when we insist on referring to 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥2
(for instance) as a function. It's not: It's an
equation. The function in this case is given by the
expression 𝑥2 , so in that way we can say that
expressions are functions. In this example, 𝑓 is
the name of the function, 𝑥 is the input of the
function,and 𝑥2 is the expression which is the
output, i.e., the function 𝑓(𝑥) itself.

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Paul Hartzer answered

11 ● 1 Apr 30 '18 at 23:17

This is not how it works. Do you know the strict definition of

a function? – Algebear Apr 30 '18 at 23:42

You gave an example that "sin(x) is a function". sin(x) is an

expression. It seems to me that you're interested in flexing
technical muscles instead of having a constructive
conversation. I'm not interested in that. – Paul Hartzer May
2 '18 at 1:48

No, it was not my intention to be understood as someone

who likes to "flex technical muscles". I just like to point out
to people how things are formally defined. If you're new
here you should understand eventually that critic on others'
work is the best way to learn from each other. – Algebear
May 2 '18 at 12:25

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A function 𝑓(𝑥) : 𝐷 → 𝐶 must satisfy

0 ∀𝑥 ∈ 𝐶 where f is defined in this point 𝑥, ; i.e.
∃! 𝑓(𝑥) ∈ 𝐷
every point in the domain of 𝑓 for which 𝑓 is still
defined may have only one image, which is a
point on the line (a point in the codomain). Not to
confuse with surjectivity. For example,
𝑓 : ℝ → ℝ with 𝑓(𝑥) = sin(𝑥) is non-
surjective for there is no 𝑥 ∈ ℝ such that
𝑓(𝑥) = 2 . But the sin(𝑥) is a function because
there's no 𝑥-value with a multiple 𝑓(𝑥) -value.
An equation can be every equalty: a function is an
equality, a differential equation is an equality.
E.g. 𝑥 = 𝑦2 is an equation, but not a function if
we view it with x in the domain and y in the
codomain. For instance, 𝑥 = 1 has 𝑦 = 1 and
𝑦 = −1 as solution (point in domain with two
different images). Hence, not a function in the
(𝑥, 𝑦) -plane.

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Algebear answered
839 ● 4 ● 19 Apr 30 '18 at 23:41

edited
Apr 30 '18 at 23:47

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