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📚 Precalculus
Chapters ▾
1 Relations and Functions2 Linear and Quadratic Functions3 Polynomial Functions4 Rational Functions5 Further Topics in Functions6 Exponential and Logarithmic Functions7 Hooked on Conics8 Systems of Equations and Matrices9 Sequences and the Binomial Theorem10 Foundations of Trigonometry11 Applications of Trigonometry

Chapter 2: Linear and Quadratic Functions

We now begin the study of families of functions. Our first family, linear functions, are old friends as we shall soon see. Recall from Geometry that two distinct points in the plane determine a unique line containing those points, as indicated below.

Coordinate-plane figure.
Figure 2.1

To give a sense of the `steepness' of the line, we recall that we can compute the slope of the line using the formula below.

Adapted from Precalculus, 3rd corrected edition, by Carl Stitz and Jeff Zeager (stitz-zeager.com), licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. Changes were made: reformatted as an accessible XYZ web edition. License: CC-BY-NC-SA-3.0.