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At a fixed time, each student in a class is assigned their measured height in inches.
a) Under what condition is the assignment student \(\rightarrow\) height a function?
b) When is the reverse assignment height \(\rightarrow\) student not a function?
c) What condition must hold for the original function to have an inverse function?
Hints
- Focus on measurements taken at one fixed time.
- Ask whether one height could be assigned to more than one student in the reverse relation.
- An inverse function requires the original function to be one-to-one.
Solution
1. The assignment is a function when each student has exactly one recorded height at the specified measurement time.
2. The reverse assignment is not a function if two or more students have the same recorded height, because that height would correspond to more than one student.
3. The original function is invertible only if all recorded heights are distinct, making the function one-to-one.
Answer
a) Each student must have exactly one recorded height at the fixed time.
b) The reverse assignment is not a function when at least two students have the same recorded height.
c) All recorded heights must be different.
