Chapter 3 : Graphing and Functions

In this chapter we will be introducing two topics that are very important in an algebra class. We will start off the chapter with a brief discussion of graphing. This is not really the main topic of this chapter, but we need the basics down before moving into the second topic of this chapter. The next chapter will contain the remainder of the graphing discussion.

The second topic that we’ll be looking at is that of functions. This is probably one of the more important ideas that will come out of an Algebra class. When first studying the concept of functions many students don’t really understand the importance or usefulness of functions and function notation. The importance and/or usefulness of functions and function notation will only become apparent in later chapters and later classes. In fact, there are some topics that can only be done easily with function and function notation.

Here is a brief listing of the topics in this chapter.

Graphing – In this section we will introduce the Cartesian (or Rectangular) coordinate system. We will define/introduce ordered pairs, coordinates, quadrants, and x and y-intercepts. We will illustrate these concepts with a quick example.

Lines – In this section we will discuss graphing lines. We will introduce the concept of slope and discuss how to find it from two points on the line. In addition, we will introduce the standard form of the line as well as the point-slope form and slope-intercept form of the line. We will finish off the section with a discussion on parallel and perpendicular lines.

Circles – In this section we discuss graphing circles. We introduce the standard form of the circle and show how to use completing the square to put an equation of a circle into standard form.

The Definition of a Function – In this section we will formally define relations and functions. We also give a “working definition” of a function to help understand just what a function is. We introduce function notation and work several examples illustrating how it works. We also define the domain and range of a function. In addition, we introduce piecewise functions in this section.

Graphing Functions – In this section we discuss graphing functions including several examples of graphing piecewise functions.

Combining functions – In this section we will discuss how to add, subtract, multiply and divide functions. In addition, we introduce the concept of function composition.

Inverse Functions – In this section we define one-to-one and inverse functions. We also discuss a process we can use to find an inverse function and verify that the function we get from this process is, in fact, an inverse function.