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Complete the description of the piecewise function graphed below.

Complete the description of the piecewise function graphed below.-example-1
User Bunni
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2 Answers

14 votes
14 votes

Explanation:

not everything is visible, and the points' coordinates have to optically estimated (particularly for the leftmost point).

I assume, we have the following points :

(-6, 1.5) (-3, 3)

(-3, 2) (1, 2)

(1, 1) (6, -9)

all 3 segments are lines with the basic function definition

y = ax + b

a is the slope of the line function and is always the factor of x.

it is the ratio y/x indicating how many units y changes, when x changes a certain amount of units when going from one point on the line to another.

b is the y-intercept (the y value when x = 0).

the first segment goes from (-6, 1.5) to (-3, 3).

x changes by +3 units (from -6 to -3).

y changes by +1.5 or 3/2 units (from 1.5 to 3).

the slope of the line is 3/2 / 3 = 3/(2×3) = 1/2

giving us the first part

y = (1/2)x + b

b we get by using the coordinates of one point (e.g. -3, 3) as x and y values and solve for b :

3 = (1/2)×-3 + b

3 = -3/2 + b

6/2 + 3/2 = b

9/2 = b

the full equation is

y = (1/2)x + 9/2 = (x + 9)/2

the second segment is a flat, horizontal line and is simply

y = 2

the third segment goes from (1, 1) to (6, -9) :

x changes by +5 units (from 1 to 6).

y changes by -10 units (from 1 to -9).

the slope of the line is -10/5 = -2

giving us the first part

y = -2x + b

b we get by using the coordinates of one point (e.g. 1, 1) as x and y values and solve for b :

1 = -2×1 + b

1 = -2 + b

3 = b

the full equation is

y = -2x + 3

User Superuserdo
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3.3k points
24 votes
24 votes

The answer is in the pic below!

Complete the description of the piecewise function graphed below.-example-1
User Ramzixp
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3.0k points