# 3.3 Rates of change and behavior of graphs

 Page 1 / 15
In this section, you will:
• Find the average rate of change of a function.
• Use a graph to determine where a function is increasing, decreasing, or constant.
• Use a graph to locate local maxima and local minima.
• Use a graph to locate the absolute maximum and absolute minimum.

Gasoline costs have experienced some wild fluctuations over the last several decades. [link] http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/annual/showtext.cfm?t=ptb0524. Accessed 3/5/2014. lists the average cost, in dollars, of a gallon of gasoline for the years 2005–2012. The cost of gasoline can be considered as a function of year.

 $y$ 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 $C\left(y\right)$ 2.31 2.62 2.84 3.3 2.41 2.84 3.58 3.68

If we were interested only in how the gasoline prices changed between 2005 and 2012, we could compute that the cost per gallon had increased from $2.31 to$3.68, an increase of $1.37. While this is interesting, it might be more useful to look at how much the price changed per year . In this section, we will investigate changes such as these. ## Finding the average rate of change of a function The price change per year is a rate of change because it describes how an output quantity changes relative to the change in the input quantity. We can see that the price of gasoline in [link] did not change by the same amount each year, so the rate of change was not constant. If we use only the beginning and ending data, we would be finding the average rate of change over the specified period of time. To find the average rate of change, we divide the change in the output value by the change in the input value. The Greek letter $\text{Δ}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}$ (delta) signifies the change in a quantity; we read the ratio as “delta- y over delta- x ” or “the change in $\text{\hspace{0.17em}}y\text{\hspace{0.17em}}$ divided by the change in $\text{\hspace{0.17em}}x.$ ” Occasionally we write $\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{Δ}f\text{\hspace{0.17em}}$ instead of $\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{Δ}y,\text{\hspace{0.17em}}$ which still represents the change in the function’s output value resulting from a change to its input value. It does not mean we are changing the function into some other function. In our example, the gasoline price increased by$1.37 from 2005 to 2012. Over 7 years, the average rate of change was

On average, the price of gas increased by about 19.6¢ each year.

Other examples of rates of change include:

• A population of rats increasing by 40 rats per week
• A car traveling 68 miles per hour (distance traveled changes by 68 miles each hour as time passes)
• A car driving 27 miles per gallon (distance traveled changes by 27 miles for each gallon)
• The current through an electrical circuit increasing by 0.125 amperes for every volt of increased voltage
• The amount of money in a college account decreasing by \$4,000 per quarter

## Rate of change

A rate of change describes how an output quantity changes relative to the change in the input quantity. The units on a rate of change are “output units per input units.”

The average rate of change between two input values is the total change of the function values (output values) divided by the change in the input values.

$\frac{\Delta y}{\Delta x}=\frac{f\left({x}_{2}\right)-f\left({x}_{1}\right)}{{x}_{2}-{x}_{1}}$

find general solution of the Tanx=-1/root3,secx=2/root3
find general solution of the following equation
Nani
the value of 2 sin square 60 Cos 60
0.75
Lynne
0.75
Inkoom
when can I use sin, cos tan in a giving question
depending on the question
Nicholas
I am a carpenter and I have to cut and assemble a conventional roof line for a new home. The dimensions are: width 30'6" length 40'6". I want a 6 and 12 pitch. The roof is a full hip construction. Give me the L,W and height of rafters for the hip, hip jacks also the length of common jacks.
John
I want to learn the calculations
where can I get indices
I need matrices
Nasasira
hi
Raihany
Hi
Solomon
need help
Raihany
maybe provide us videos
Nasasira
Raihany
Hello
Cromwell
a
Amie
What do you mean by a
Cromwell
nothing. I accidentally press it
Amie
you guys know any app with matrices?
Khay
Ok
Cromwell
Solve the x? x=18+(24-3)=72
x-39=72 x=111
Suraj
Solve the formula for the indicated variable P=b+4a+2c, for b
Need help with this question please
b=-4ac-2c+P
Denisse
b=p-4a-2c
Suddhen
b= p - 4a - 2c
Snr
p=2(2a+C)+b
Suraj
b=p-2(2a+c)
Tapiwa
P=4a+b+2C
COLEMAN
b=P-4a-2c
COLEMAN
like Deadra, show me the step by step order of operation to alive for b
John
A laser rangefinder is locked on a comet approaching Earth. The distance g(x), in kilometers, of the comet after x days, for x in the interval 0 to 30 days, is given by g(x)=250,000csc(π30x). Graph g(x) on the interval [0, 35]. Evaluate g(5)  and interpret the information. What is the minimum distance between the comet and Earth? When does this occur? To which constant in the equation does this correspond? Find and discuss the meaning of any vertical asymptotes.
The sequence is {1,-1,1-1.....} has
how can we solve this problem
Sin(A+B) = sinBcosA+cosBsinA
Prove it
Eseka
Eseka
hi
Joel
yah
immy
June needs 45 gallons of punch. 2 different coolers. Bigger cooler is 5 times as large as smaller cooler. How many gallons in each cooler?
7.5 and 37.5
Nando
how would this look as an equation?
Hayden
5x+x=45
Khay
find the sum of 28th term of the AP 3+10+17+---------
I think you should say "28 terms" instead of "28th term"
Vedant
the 28th term is 175
Nando
192
Kenneth
if sequence sn is a such that sn>0 for all n and lim sn=0than prove that lim (s1 s2............ sn) ke hole power n =n