Monday, August 30, 2010

Real World Functions

  This assignment was related to Chapter 2 of our Trig. textbook-Functions and Relations. We have already learned how to plot number-line graphs of equations with one variable. Now, things get more challenging......we are going to work with equations containing TWO variables!!! A graph is a function if for every x value, there is exactly one unique value of y. A relation is just the opposite. It has two y-values for every x-value. The independent variable is x, and the dependent variable is y. The domain of a function is the set of values of the independent variable, and the range is the set of values of the dependent variable. In this chapter, I learned to sketch a reasonable graph when given a real-world situation in which one variable depends on the value of the other.
         
          We worked in pairs, and me and my partner Ivan decided to use computers as our real-world example. Every time we hit a single letter on the keyboard, that same single letter appears on the computer screen. We then repeat this experiment multiple times and find that it is true for each trial. This situation is known as a FUNCTION. But suppose our computer gets a little "weird" and when we hit the same letter more than once, a different letter appears on the screen. In this case, there are two possible outcomes for each letter that we type. Therefore, this would be called a RELATION. Our detailed work is shown below. Enjoy!

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