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Notes Key Topic 1.2 Rates of Change 2024

This document covers the concept of rates of change in functions, equating it to slope and discussing its implications in AP Precalculus and Calculus. It explains how to determine the rate of change at specific points and introduces the average rate of change over intervals. Examples are provided to illustrate these concepts, including comparisons of rates of change and their applications in real-world scenarios.

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Rana Mukherjee
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234 views4 pages

Notes Key Topic 1.2 Rates of Change 2024

This document covers the concept of rates of change in functions, equating it to slope and discussing its implications in AP Precalculus and Calculus. It explains how to determine the rate of change at specific points and introduces the average rate of change over intervals. Examples are provided to illustrate these concepts, including comparisons of rates of change and their applications in real-world scenarios.

Uploaded by

Rana Mukherjee
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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AP Precalculus Notes Name: Solutions

Topic 1.2: Rates of Change

Created by Bryan Passwater Mathematical Practices/Skills Highlighted


Identify information from multiple representations.
Speedway High School
Describe the characteristics of a function.
[email protected]

In Topic 1.1, we learned that the phrase “rate of change” is synonymous with the word “slope”. So, a positive rate of
change indicates that a function has a positive slope (the function is increasing). And a negative rate of change indicates
that a function has a negative slope (the function is decreasing).
Rate of Change at a Point
In AP Precalculus, we will define the rate of change of a function at a point as the rate at which
the output values would change if the input values were to change at that point.
Later, in (AP) Calculus, you will call this the “instantaneous rate of change”. The concept of a
function changing instantaneously is called a derivative and is quite challenging to understand
without first learning the foundational ideas found in AP Precalculus.

In AP Precalculus, we are unable to find the rate of change of a function at a given point (this will require calculus). But,
we need to determine if the rate of change at a given point is positive, negative, or zero. We will also need to be able to
compare the rates of change at two distinct points.

When considering rates of change at a given point, it may be helpful to think about the graph as a roller
coaster. If the car you are riding is “going up”, then the function has a positive rate of change at that point.
If you are “going down”, the function has a negative rate of change at that point.

At the instant (point) when you are at the top of a peak or at the bottom of a valley, you are not moving up or down. At
the single instant (point), you are changing between going up and going down. At these points, the rate of change is
neither positive nor negative; the rate of change is zero!

• At t1 , the rate of change of f is positive.

• At t2 , the rate of change of f is zero.

• At t3 , the rate of change of f is negative.

The fastest roller coaster in the world is the Formula Rossa in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates). Build
in 2010, the coaster reaches a maximum speed of 149.1 miles per hour! For comparison, the average
speed for the 2008 Indy 500 was only 143.6 miles per hour!

Notes: Topic 1.2 Rates of Change Solutions by Ted Gott [email protected] Created by Bryan Passwater
Graph of f
Example 1: The figure shows the graph of a function f in the xy -plane with three labeled points. Order the rates of
change of f at the three labeled points from least to greatest.
rate of change at A is positive, rate of change at B is negative and rate of change at C is zero.
𝐵!"#$ < 𝐶!"#$ < 𝐴!"#$

Graph of g
Example 2: The figure shows the graph of a function g in the xy -plane with four labeled points. Of the following
points, at which is the rate of change of g the least?

(A) A
(B) B
(C) C
(D) D The rate of change at C and D are negative and graph is steeper at D, so the rate of change at D is less (more
negative) than the rate of change at C.

Notes: Topic 1.2 Rates of Change Solutions by Ted Gott [email protected] Created by Bryan Passwater
Another important concept that we will use throughout AP Precalculus (and AP Calculus) is the average rate of change of
a function over an interval.

Average Rate of Change (AROC)


The average rate of change of a function over an interval is the constant rate of change that yields the same
change in the output values as the function yielded on that interval. It is the ratio of the change in the output
values to the change in the input values over that interval.
We will look more closely at the average rate of change of a function in Topic 1.3, including how to calculate
the average rate of change over a given interval.
In Topic 1.2, we will approach average rates of change in a way that is very similar to how we approached the
rate of change at a given point – we will determine if the average rate of change over an interval is positive,
negative, or zero. And we will compare the average rates of change over two distinct intervals.

Graph of h
Example 3: The figure shows the graph of the function y = h ( x ) . Of the following, on which interval is the average rate
of change of h greatest?

(A) 2 £ x £ 3 zero because there is no change in the output values.


(B) 3 £ x £ 5 negative because the output values decrease.
(C) 5 £ x £ 7 positive because the output values increase. This is the greatest average rate.
(D) 7 £ x £ 8 negative because the output values decrease.

Notes: Topic 1.2 Rates of Change Solutions by Ted Gott [email protected] Created by Bryan Passwater
Example 4: The graph of the function y = f ( x ) in the xy -plane always has a negative rate of change. Which of the
following definitions for the variables x and y would best model the function f ?

(A) x = the age, in years, of a young child; y = the height, in inches, of the young child
(B) x = the total number of points scored in a basketball game; y = the time remaining, in seconds, in the game.
(C) x = the time, in seconds, since a ball was thrown straight up in the air; y = the height, in feet, of the ball
(D) x = the radius, in meters, of a circle; y = the area, in square inches, of the circle
If points are being scored then the time must be running and that means the seconds remaining in the game must
be decreasing, or the rate of change is negative.

Example 5: The function k is defined by k ( x ) = 3.16 + 4.2 x - 0.85x 2 for -10 £ x £ 10. Which of the following
statements about k is correct?
(A) k has a positive rate of change over the interval -10 £ x £ 8.348.
(B) k has a positive rate of change over the interval -0.663 £ x £ 5.605.
(C) k has a negative rate of change over the interval -10 £ x £ 2.470.
(D) k has a negative rate of change over the interval 2.470 £ x £ 10.

Birthyear 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000


Life Expectancy 41.24 46.10 53.63 70.65 81.83

Example 6: The table gives the life expectancy of US females born in a given year over successive 50-year intervals.
Over which of the following intervals is the average rate of change in life expectancy the greatest?
46.10 − 41.24
(A) from 1800 to 1850 average rate of change = 0.0972
50
53.63 − 46.10
(B) from 1850 to 1900 average rate of change = 0.1506
50
70.65 − 53.63
(C) from 1900 to 1950 average rate of change = 0.3404
50
81.83 − 70.65
(D) from 1950 to 2000 average rate of change = 0.2236
50

Notes: Topic 1.2 Rates of Change Solutions by Ted Gott [email protected] Created by Bryan Passwater

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