ersor2018 {17Trek Precaleuls - Piecewise Functions Piecewise Functions ‘Are you alittle apprehensive about piecewise functions? Iso, it may help to read this introductory article eaed Piecewise Functions The Mystery Revealed before going through the material on this page. article; Plecew/se Functions ~The Mystery Revealed ‘This is an incredibly important concept that you need to understand for limits, ‘which are the key to calculus. To understand this topic, you need to know why the domain of a function is important. ‘Many students think this isa difficult concept but I have had students that come into my class not understanding this and, after they get it, they look at me and say, A regular function usually equation. Incontrast,apie "=" Word habe you can thinkabout breaki | 9 "me one equations look like. ee oe _ You CAN Ace Precleulie trek > precalelus > piecewise function “Topics You Need To Understand For This Page Page Tools, Relate Topics and Links Piecewise Functions FAQS gic inks search tek fective sd techniques more math help des to save on books- bags - supplies Various Toles & Tools Sacre ova a Nee aa Eaton Look at plot 1 tothe right. divide the xy-plane into tw. meneresorie we do is consider each side. function, would it?) So, ifwe cover up the part ofthe plane from z ~ 1 tothe right (take apiece of paper and \ do that now, if you need to), we have something that looks like part of a parabola, right? Now, we if cover up the part of the plane from x — 1 tothe lft, we have something that looks like part of an upside-down parabola right? So this graph could be described by the equation eel 2>1 t= { gap ds (kay, we have seen how an equation might ita graph, But what ifyou are given the equation and you need to come up with a raph? Iwill show you how 1 do itand se i this helps you nel and plot Let's start with the same equation above, ie. f(2) { let's ty to build the graph shown in plot 3. tpl 7tek.comiprecalculuspiecewise-unetons! umersor2018 {17Trek Precaleuls - Piecewise Functions ‘Start by just graphing both functions on the same set of axes to get the plot 2 below. The red graph is y = The blue graph is ~(z — 2)? + 3. At this point, we show the complete graphs of both equations without taking into aecount the domains. You can tell this is not a function, right? top - search - practice problems - pagelike? 9 ? 2 Jo this we notice that y = 2? is defined only for 2 < 1. $0 we ‘erase’ or remove all ofthe red graph that isto the right of 2 = 1, We also notice that < 1 means that x must be less than one but not equal to one. So we need an open cirele on the red graph to indicate this exclusion of one. The result of these changes is the plot 3 below. [) \ —_\Y | \ plot lots lots (again) Okay, we are almost done. Now we need to implement the domain of z > 1 on the blue graph. The equation tells us that the blue raph is defined only for x > 1. So we erase! or remove all ofthe blue graph to the left of = includes ‘We also notice that this graph since the greater than or equal sign is used, So we need a closed circle at 2 = 1. The result is plot 1, repeated here. So, that's one way to do it. This idea can be extended to more than two parts, ie. the graph may be broken at more than just one point. Just break the domain into the separate sections and deal with as many sections as you have in your equation. The practice problems contain some examples. ICIC| Bank Home Loans Reduced Processing Fee, ROIG@10.15%* Get Instant Approval. Apply Now! Piecewise Functions Resources ‘ag: Can sections of precewise functions overlap? Practice Problems Instructions Unless otherwise instructed, - if the problem gives an equation, graph the function if the problem shows a graph, write an equation for the graph. [ Click on the practice problem to reveal/hide the solution. ] Level A- Basie tpl 7tek.comiprecalculuspiecewise-unetons! 26