LINEAR

FUNCTIONS
• WHAT IS A LINEAR FUNCTION?
A LINEAR FUNCTION IS A FUNCTION
WHICH FORMS A STRAIGHT LINE IN A
GRAPH. IT IS GENERALLY A POLYNOMIAL
FUNCTION WHOSE DEGREE IS UTMOST
1 OR 0.
• F(A) IS CALLED A FUNCTION, WHERE A IS
AN INDEPENDENT VARIABLE IN WHICH THE
FUNCTION IS DEPENDENT. LINEAR
FUNCTION GRAPH HAS A STRAIGHT LINE
WHOSE EXPRESSION OR FORMULA IS
GIVEN BY;
Y = F(X) = PX + Q
• A LINEAR FUNCTION IS OF THE FORM F(X)
= MX + B WHERE 'M' AND ‘B' ARE
REAL NUMBERS.
• 'M' IS THE SLOPE OF THE LINE
• 'B' IS THE Y-INTERCEPT OF THE LINE
• 'X' IS THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
• 'Y' (OR F(X)) IS THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE
• LINEAR FUNCTION EQUATION
• THE PARENT LINEAR FUNCTION IS F(X) = X,
WHICH IS A LINE PASSING THROUGH THE
ORIGIN. IN GENERAL, A LINEAR FUNCTION
EQUATION IS F(X) = MX + B AND HERE ARE
SOME EXAMPLES.
F(X) = 3X - 2
F(X) = -5X - 0.5
F(X) = 3
• REAL LIFE EXAMPLE OF LINEAR FUNCTION
• HERE ARE SOME REAL-LIFE APPLICATIONS OF THE LINEAR
FUNCTION.
1.A MOVIE STREAMING SERVICE CHARGES A MONTHLY FEE OF
$4.50 AND AN ADDITIONAL FEE OF $0.35 FOR EVERY MOVIE
DOWNLOADED. NOW, THE TOTAL MONTHLY FEE IS
REPRESENTED BY THE LINEAR FUNCTION F(X) = 0.35X + 4.50,
WHERE X IS THE NUMBER OF MOVIES DOWNLOADED IN A
MONTH.
2.A T-SHIRT COMPANY CHARGES A ONE-TIME FEE OF $50 AND
$7 PER T-SHIRT TO PRINT LOGOS ON T-SHIRTS. SO, THE TOTAL
FEE IS EXPRESSED BY THE LINEAR FUNCTION F(X) = 7X + 50,
WHERE X IS THE NUMBER OF T-SHIRTS.
• HOW TO FIND A LINEAR FUNCTION?
WE USE THE SLOPE-INTERCEPT FORM OR THE
POINT-SLOPE FORM TO FIND A LINEAR
FUNCTION. THE PROCESS OF FINDING A LINEAR
FUNCTION IS THE SAME AS THE PROCESS OF
FINDING THE EQUATION OF A LINE AND IS
EXPLAINED WITH AN EXAMPLE.
EXAMPLE: FIND THE LINEAR FUNCTION THAT
HAS TWO POINTS (-1, 15) AND (2, 27) ON IT.
• SOLUTION:
THE GIVEN POINTS ARE (X1, Y1) = (-1, 15) AND (X₂, Y₂) = (2, 27).

STEP 1: FIND THE SLOPE OF THE FUNCTION USING THE SLOPE FORMULA:
M = (Y₂ - Y1) / (X₂ - X1) = (27 - 15) / (2 - (-1)) = 12/3 = 4.

STEP 2: FIND THE EQUATION OF LINEAR FUNCTION USING THE POINT SLOPE
FORM.
Y - Y1 = M (X - X1)

Y - 15 = 4 (X - (-1))
Y - 15 = 4 (X + 1)
Y - 15 = 4X + 4
Y = 4X + 19
THEREFORE, THE EQUATION OF THE LINEAR FUNCTION IS, F(X) = 4X + 19.
• IDENTIFYING A LINEAR FUNCTION
• IF THE INFORMATION ABOUT A FUNCTION IS GIVEN AS A
GRAPH, THEN IT IS LINEAR IF THE GRAPH IS A LINE. IF THE
INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUNCTION IS GIVEN IN THE
ALGEBRAIC FORM, THEN IT IS LINEAR IF IT IS OF THE FORM
F(X) = MX + B. BUT TO SEE WHETHER THE GIVEN DATA IN A
TABLE FORMAT REPRESENTS A LINEAR FUNCTION:
• COMPUTE THE DIFFERENCES IN X-VALUES.
• COMPUTE THE DIFFERENCES IN Y-VALUES
• CHECK WHETHER THE RATIO OF THE DIFFERENCE IN Y-
VALUES TO THE DIFFERENCE IN X-VALUES IS ALWAYS
CONSTANT.
• EXAMPLE: DETERMINE WHETHER THE FOLLOWING
DATA FROM THE FOLLOWING TABLE REPRESENTS A
LINEAR FUNCTION.
• SOLUTION:
• WE WILL COMPUTE THE DIFFERENCES IN X-VALUES, DIFFERENCES IN Y
VALUES, AND THE RATIO (DIFFERENCE IN Y)/(DIFFERENCE IN X) EVERY TIME
AND SEE WHETHER THIS RATIO IS A CONSTANT.

• SINCE ALL NUMBERS IN THE LAST COLUMN ARE EQUAL TO A CONSTANT, THE
DATA IN THE GIVEN TABLE REPRESENTS A LINEAR FUNCTION.
• GRAPHING A LINEAR FUNCTION
• THE GRAPH OF A LINEAR FUNCTION
F(X) = MX + B IS
• AN INCREASING LINE WHEN M > 0
• A DECREASING LINE WHEN M < 0
• A HORIZONTAL LINE WHEN M = 0
• THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO GRAPH A LINEAR FUNCTION.
• BY FINDING TWO POINTS ON IT.
• BY USING ITS SLOPE AND Y-INTERCEPT.
• GRAPHING A LINEAR FUNCTION BY FINDING TWO POINTS
THE PROCESS IS EXPLAINED WITH AN EXAMPLE WHERE WE ARE
GOING TO GRAPH THE FUNCTION F(X) = 3X + 5.
STEP 1: FIND TWO POINTS ON THE LINE BY TAKING SOME
RANDOM VALUES.
WE WILL ASSUME THAT X = -1 AND X = 0.
STEP 2: SUBSTITUTE EACH OF THESE VALUES IN THE FUNCTION
TO FIND THE CORRESPONDING Y-VALUES.
HERE IS THE TABLE OF THE LINEAR FUNCTION Y = 3X + 5.
• HERE IS THE TABLE OF THE LINEAR FUNCTION Y = 3X + 5.

THEREFORE, TWO POINTS ON THE LINE ARE (-1, 2) AND

(0, 5).
STEP 3: PLOT THE POINTS ON THE GRAPH AND JOIN
THEM BY A LINE. ALSO, EXTEND THE LINE ON BOTH SIDES
GRAPHING A LINEAR FUNCTION USING SLOPE AND Y-
INTERCEPT
• TO GRAPH A LINEAR FUNCTION, F(X) = MX + B, WE CAN USE ITS
SLOPE 'M' AND THE Y-INTERCEPT 'B'. THE PROCESS IS EXPLAINED
AGAIN BY GRAPHING THE SAME LINEAR FUNCTION F(X) = 3X + 5. ITS
SLOPE IS, M = 3 AND ITS Y-INTERCEPT IS (0, B) = (0, 5).
• STEP 1: PLOT THE Y-INTERCEPT (0, B).
HERE, WE PLOT THE POINT (0, 5).
• STEP 2: WRITE THE SLOPE AS THE FRACTION RISE/RUN AND
IDENTIFY THE "RISE" AND THE "RUN".
HERE, THE SLOPE = 3 = 3/1 = RISE/RUN.
SO RISE = 3 AND RUN = 1.
• STEP 3: RISE THE Y-INTERCEPT VERTICALLY BY
"RISE" AND THEN RUN HORIZONTALLY BY "RUN".
THIS RESULTS IN A NEW POINT.
(NOTE THAT IF "RISE" IS POSITIVE, WE GO UP
AND IF "RISE" IS NEGATIVE, WE GO DOWN.
ALSO, IF "RUN" IS POSITIVE", WE GO RIGHT AND
IF "RUN" IS NEGATIVE, WE GO LEFT.)
HERE, WE GO UP BY 3 UNITS FROM THE Y-
INTERCEPT AND THEREBY GO RIGHT BY 1 UNIT.
• STEP 4: JOIN THE POINTS FROM STEP
• DOMAIN AND RANGE OF LINEAR
FUNCTION
• THE DOMAIN OF A LINEAR FUNCTION IS THE
SET OF ALL REAL NUMBERS, AND THE RANGE
OF A LINEAR FUNCTION IS ALSO THE SET OF
ALL REAL NUMBERS. THE FOLLOWING FIGURE
SHOWS F(X) = 2X + 3 AND G(X) = 4 −X
PLOTTED ON THE SAME AXES.
• NOTE THAT BOTH FUNCTIONS TAKE ON REAL VALUES FOR ALL
VALUES OF X, WHICH MEANS THAT THE DOMAIN OF EACH
FUNCTION IS THE SET OF ALL REAL NUMBERS (R). LOOK ALONG
THE X-AXIS TO CONFIRM THIS. FOR EVERY VALUE OF X, WE HAVE
A POINT ON THE GRAPH.
• ALSO, THE OUTPUT FOR EACH FUNCTION RANGES CONTINUOUSLY
FROM NEGATIVE INFINITY TO POSITIVE INFINITY, WHICH MEANS
THAT THE RANGE OF EITHER FUNCTION IS ALSO R. THIS CAN BE
CONFIRMED BY LOOKING ALONG THE Y-AXIS, WHICH CLEARLY
SHOWS THAT THERE IS A POINT ON EACH GRAPH FOR EVERY Y-
VALUE. THUS, WHEN THE SLOPE M ≠ 0,
• THE DOMAIN OF A LINEAR FUNCTION = R
• EXAMPLE 1: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CELSIUS
DEGREES AND FAHRENHEIT DEGREES IS LINEAR. SOME
EQUIVALENT VALUES ARE SHOWN IN THE TABLE
BELOW. FIND THE LINEAR FUNCTION REPRESENTING
THE GIVEN DATA.
• SOLUTION:

TO FIND THE LINEAR FUNCTION, IT IS SUFFICIENT TO CONSIDER ANY TWO POINTS

FROM THE TABLE.
LET (X1, Y1) = (5, 41) AND (X₂, Y₂) = (10, 50).

THE SLOPE, M = (Y₂ - Y1) / (X₂ - X1) = (50 - 41) / (10 - 5) = 9/5.

USING THE POINT-SLOPE FORM,

Y - Y1 = M (X - X1)

Y - 41 = (9/5) (X - 5)
Y - 41 = (9/5) X - 9
Y = (9/5) X + 32
FROM THE TABLE, THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE IS C AND THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE
IS F. SO THE LINEAR RELATIONSHIP IS, F = (9/5) C + 32.
ANSWER: THE LINEAR RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CELSIUS AND FAHRENHEIT IS, F = (9/5)
C + 32.
EXAMPLE 2: THE COST (IN DOLLARS) OF RENTING A
CAR IS REPRESENTED BY C(X) = 30 X + 20, WHERE X IS
THE NUMBER OF DAYS THE CAR IS RENTED FOR. THEN
WHAT IS THE COST OF RENTING THE CAR FOR 10 DAYS?
SOLUTION:
TO FIND THE COST OF RENTING THE CAR FOR 10 DAYS,
SUBSTITUTE X = 10 IN THE GIVEN LINEAR FUNCTION.
C(10) = 30(10) + 20 = 300 + 20 = 320
ANSWER: THE COST OF RENTING THE CAR FOR 10
DAYS = $320.
1.EXAMPLE 3: CONSIDERING THE SCENARIO OF EXAMPLE 2, IF
RYAN PAID THE TOTAL RENT TO BE $470, THEN FOR HOW MANY
DAYS DID HE RENT THE CAR?
SOLUTION:
THE GIVEN LINEAR FUNCTION IS C(X) = 470, WHERE 'X' IS THE
NUMBER OF DAYS THAT CAR IS RENTED FOR.
470 = 30X + 20
SOLVING THE ABOVE LINEAR EQUATION,
450 = 30X
X = 450/30 = 15
ANSWER: RYAN RENTED THE CAR FOR 15 DAYS.
• EXAMPLE:
FIND AN EQUATION OF THE LINEAR FUNCTION GIVEN F(2) = 5 AND F(6)
= 3.
SOLUTION: LET’S WRITE IT IN AN ORDERED PAIRS
F(2) = 5, AND F(6) = 3
(2, 5) (6, 3)
FIND THE SLOPE.
(2, 5) (6, 3)

Y2−Y1X2–X1=3−56−2=−24=−12
SLOPE = -1/2
• IN THE EQUATION, SUBSTITUTE THE SLOPE AND Y
INTERCEPT , WRITE AN EQUATION LIKE THIS: Y = MX+C
• 5 = -(½) (2) + B
• 5 = -1 + B
•B=5+1
• B = 6, WHICH IS A Y-INTERCEPT
Y = MX+B
Y = -(½) (X) + 6
IN FUNCTION NOTATION: F(X) = -(½) (X) + 6