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A Function Made Up of 3 Pieces

The document describes a piecewise function made up of 3 pieces. When x is less than 2, the function gives x^2. When x is exactly 2, it gives 6. When x is more than 2 and less than or equal to 6, it gives the line 10-x. The domain of the function is all real numbers up to and including 6, which can be written as (-∞,6]. Some example values of the function are provided.

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Mark Anthony Lutes
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28 views4 pages

A Function Made Up of 3 Pieces

The document describes a piecewise function made up of 3 pieces. When x is less than 2, the function gives x^2. When x is exactly 2, it gives 6. When x is more than 2 and less than or equal to 6, it gives the line 10-x. The domain of the function is all real numbers up to and including 6, which can be written as (-∞,6]. Some example values of the function are provided.

Uploaded by

Mark Anthony Lutes
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A function made up of 3 pieces

Example:

 when x is less than 2, it gives x2,


 when x is exactly 2 it gives 6
 when x is more than 2 and less than or equal to 6 it gives the line 10-x

It looks like this:

(a solid dot means "including",


an open dot means "not including")

And this is how we write it:

The Domain (all the values that can go into the function) is all Real
Numbers up to and including 6, which we can write like this:

Dom(f) = (-∞, 6] (using Interval Notation )

Dom(f) = {x | x ≤ 6} (using Set Builder Notation )

And here are some example values:


X Y
−4 16
−2 4
0 0
1 1
2 6
3 7

Example: Here is another piecewise function:

which looks like:

What is h(−1)?

x is ≤ 1, so we use h(x) = 2, so h(−1) = 2

What is h(1)?

x is ≤ 1, so we use h(x) = 2, so h(1) = 2

What is h(4)?

x is > 1, so we use h(x) = x, so h(4) = 4

Piecewise functions let us make functions that do anything we want!

Example: A Doctor's fee is based on the length of time.

 Up to 6 minutes costs $50


 Over 6 and up to 15 minutes costs $80
 Over 15 minutes costs $80 plus $5 per minute above 15 minutes

Which we can write like this:

You visit for 12 minutes, what is the fee? $80

You visit for 20 minutes, what is the fee? $80+$5(20-15) = $105

The Absolute Value Function


The Absolute Value Function is a famous Piecewise Function.

It has two pieces:

 below zero: -x
 from 0 onwards: x

f(x) = |x|

The Floor Function


The Floor Function is a very special piecewise function. It has an infinite
number of pieces:
The Floor Function

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