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algebra precalculus - Difference between expression and function - Mathematics Stack Exchange
How to write a function expression formally/correct? - Mathematics Stack Exchange
Is function an expression?
What is the difference between a function, expression, and an equation?
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All functions (at least the formulas represented by them) are expressions, but not all expressions are functions.
Definition: A function is a relation between a set of inputs and a set of permissible outputs with the property that each input is related to exactly one output.
Definition: An algebraic expression is a mathematical phrase that can contain ordinary numbers, variables (like or
) and operators (like add, subtract, multiply, and divide).
Example: is clearly an algebraic expression but it does not have to be a function, since the letters
don't have to be inputs. But if
is an input, then we would have a function:
but
and
would be constants.
Example: with
is a function because it has a set of inputs (
) and a set of outputs (numbers of the form
). But
is also an expression as it contains numbers, variables and operators.
Expressions are "syntactical" objects, i.e. pieces of language.
Functions are (mathematical) objects, i.e. pieces of the world.
A function is described/specified by an expression; the same function can be described by more than one expression.
This question stems from reading this line in a book-
'Graph the following function : y=ex'
This got me thinking why are they calling an equation a function? y=ex is an equation isn't it? So is a function an equation? I think otherwise.
Consider the expression xยฒ+1. It can take an input of x, and give an output. So, for x=2, xยฒ+1 gives 5 as an output. Thus, xยฒ+1 is a function, a function of x. If I say, that okay let this expression xยฒ+1 be equal to y, i.e. y=xยฒ+1, then I can say that y is a function, a function of x, but it doesn't make sense when I say y=xยฒ+1 is a function, isn't it?
So, I wanted to ask is a function an expression? Or an equation? I think it should be an expression for reasons I wrote above.

