PART A
“Pepsico Inc”
I read an article on NY Times about the prices of Pepsi over the past 5 years. The information given clearly demonstrates a function because there is a relationship between Time (T) and Price (P) of stocks as each year goes by; time is the independent variable and price is the dependent variable. This means that Time is on the X axis and Price is on the Y axis. There is also exactly one output for the price for each year and the graph of the information passes the Vertical Line Test. This function shows a steady increase in price from 2009 to 2013 with some fluctuations.
This graph was in the article and gives a good visual representation of the function since 2009.
This is not a linear function because it is not a straight line and therefore the average rate of change would not be accurate. In other words this function cannot be described just with a y=mx+b equation.
I think that this is a mathematical model because the price of stock is dependent on the year. In more recent years, pepsi has been successful so the price would increase.
P=F(T)
Price is a function of Time
PART B
“The Poll Results”
This article talks about a poll that surveyed people asking them about their current/previous social class, their opinion on whether they could improve their social class, the amount of tension between the rich and the poor, and a few other questions about their personal lives. I know that this is not a function because each person answers more than one question, meaning that each input has more than one output.
Could another reason its not a function be that the outputs are personal opinions and can't really be measured on a graph?
ReplyDeleteI like the article on the price of Pepsi. I think that it provides a good example of a function and I agree that it is a mathematical model as well.
ReplyDeletehi, allie,
ReplyDeleteyou did a very nice job with the pepsi article and explained your reasoning for why it is a function with good detail.
your explanation about the poll makes sense and you are right that one person's responses will not constitute a function. it's just that the data is not represented in the way in the article. they have organized that data displaying groups of responses by poll title and not by each person's individual name. so,while your explanation is correct, it does not match the data that is actually displayed.
all in all good job, though.
professor little
The pepsi information was interesting as it recently sparked controversy when they raised prices while they had no extra costs to cover. Thanks for that, it was helpful.
ReplyDelete