Chapter 1 | Functions and Graphs
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Figure 1.2 A function can be visualized as an input/output device.
Figure 1.3 A function maps every element in the domain to exactly one element in the range. Although each input can be sent to only one output, two different inputs can be sent to the same output.
Figure 1.4 In this case, a graph of a function f has a domain of {1, 2, 3} and a range of {1, 2}. The independent variable is x and the dependent variable is y .
Visit this applet link (http://www.openstax.org/l/grapherrors) to see more about graphs of functions.
We can also visualize a function by plotting points ( x , y ) in the coordinate plane where y = f ( x ). The graph of a function is the set of all these points. For example, consider the function f , where the domain is the set D ={1, 2, 3} and the rule is f ( x ) =3− x . In Figure 1.5 , we plot a graph of this function.
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