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Exercise 186Logic, sets and proofs › Sets and mapsL1Added 31 Oct 2026

Injective or surjective?

#maps#bijection

Statement

Let f:R→Rf:\mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R} be defined by f(x)=x2f(x)=x^2. Is ff injective? Surjective? Restrict ff to get a bijection.

Hint

Compare f(1)f(1) and f(−1)f(-1), and ask whether −1-1 is a value of ff.

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Solution

Not injective. f(−1)=f(1)=1f(-1)=f(1)=1 although −1≠1-1\ne1.

Not surjective. f(x)=x2≥0f(x)=x^2\ge0 for every xx, so −1-1 has no preimage.

A bijection. Let g:[0,+∞)→[0,+∞)g:[0,+\infty)\to[0,+\infty) be the restriction g(x)=x2g(x)=x^2. For y≥0y\ge0, the equation x2=yx^2=y has exactly one solution in [0,+∞)[0,+\infty), namely x=yx=\sqrt y. So gg is bijective, with inverse y↦yy\mapsto\sqrt y.