Exercise · ZW-IMAGE-AND-PREIMAGE-005 · ★★☆ Intermediate
Let \(f(x)=x^2\) from \(\mathbb{R}\) to \(\mathbb{R}\). What is \(f([-1,2])\)?
Choose one option.
Show answer
- C. \([0,4]\)
Explanation
On \([-1,2]\) the square equals 0 at \(x=0\) and reaches \(2^2=4\) at \(x=2\); since \(x^2\) is continuous there, the image is the interval \([0,4]\). No negative value can appear, and 0 does appear.
Review the concept: Image and preimage
Given \(f\colon A\to B\), the image of \(X\subseteq A\) is the set of values \(f(x)\) with \(x\in X\), and the preimage of \(Y\subseteq B\) is the set of \(a\in A\) whose value lies in \(Y\).
\[f(X)=\{f(x)\colon x\in X\},\qquad f^{-1}(Y)=\{a\in A\colon f(a)\in Y\}\]
More practice problems: image and preimage
- ZW-IMAGE-AND-PREIMAGE-001 What is the image of X⊆ A under fcolon A→ B?
- ZW-IMAGE-AND-PREIMAGE-002 Which subset of A is the preimage of Y⊆ B?
- ZW-IMAGE-AND-PREIMAGE-003 If fcolon A→ B is surjective, what is f(A)?
- ZW-IMAGE-AND-PREIMAGE-004 For Y⊆ B, what is always true of f(f^-1(Y))?
- ZW-IMAGE-AND-PREIMAGE-006 With f(x)=x^2 from ℝ to ℝ, what is f^-1([1,4])?
- ZW-IMAGE-AND-PREIMAGE-007 Let fcolon A→ B and X_1,X_2⊆ A. Which statement about images is correct?
- ZW-IMAGE-AND-PREIMAGE-008 What is f^-1(\y\) when y is not in f(A)?
- ZW-IMAGE-AND-PREIMAGE-009 Let fcolonℝ→ℝ, f(x)=x^2-2x. What is f^-1(\-1\)?