Functions for Calculus Chapter 1 Linear, （第一章函数微积分线性的,）.pdf

Functions for Calculus Chapter 1- Linear, Quadratic, Polynomial and Rational This course is intended to remind you of the functions you will use in Calculus. Remember that a function is like a machine. It has inputs and outputs. For example, you can have a machine that paints things red. If you put a dog into this machine, you’ll get a red dog out. The thing that makes a function machine special is that for each input you get exactly one output . Over the next three units, we’ll look at several types of functions. Our goal will be to study the relationship between the function, its equation and its graph. Remember, the reason for graphs is that any poi nt that is on the graph will satisf y the function and any point that is not on the graph will not make the function’s equation true. Similarly, any point that makes the equation true will show up as a point on the graph. Linear Functions The first type of function we want to talk about is the linear function. Just as the first four letters of the name suggest, the graph of a linear function looks like a line. To think of the equation of the line, we first need to think of the “steepness” of the line. Think about walking up Pike’s Peak and compare that with walking along the ocean. Clearly, the “steepness” of climbing the mountain is different than walking a flat path along the beach. This is the idea of slope. Slope describes the “steepness” of the line. The first thing we need to decide is whether the slope is going uphill or downhill. For our purposes, let ’s always assume we’re using increasing x-values. (Going from left to right on the graph). A graph that is going uphill is said to be increasing and will have a positive slope. A line that is going downhill is decreasing and will have a negative slope. So, how do we compare whether the slope is steep or shallow? We compute the ratio of the change in y-values and the change in x-values. This allows us to compar