http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/01/15/for-netflix-bulls-the-sky-isnt-falling/?mod=yahoo_hs
Part A:
This article is all about a recent slump in Netflix and it's stock price. It's recent performance has been disappointing to many investors but according to this article, it is nothing that investors should be worried about, as the stock price is predicted to go back up in the near future. This is a function, as it passes the vertical line test and has exactly one output for every input. The graph included in the article shows the stock prices over the past couple of months. This is not a linear function, as the rate of change is not constant and fluctuates over the past months. This is not a mathematical model because the output values are not dependent on the input values. This means that the stock price is not determined by the month of the year, so therefore it cannot be a mathematical model. The function notation for the graph is P=f(t), as price is a function of time.
Part B:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/166844/government-itself-cited-top-problem.aspx
This is a poll that I found that shows what Americans think the biggest problem with the country is. The poll was taken by gallup.com, a website that has many users that contribute to daily polls for viewers to participate in, as well as outside studies done with random participants. I know that this can not be a function because there can be multiple outputs for the same input, as hundreds of thousands of people (depending on the poll) can all vote for the same option, making this not a function.
This pretty interesting about the Netflix slump! Awesome how you found so much information pertaining to class from your research.
ReplyDeleteI never knew that Netflix contained this type of information! Cool stuff!
ReplyDeletelucas,
ReplyDeleteboth of your examples are noteworthy and interesting! your explanation in the first example is excellent and i am glad to see that you accurately used mathematical vocabulary showing your understanding of what constitutes a function.
in your second example, your explanation for why a relationship is not a function is correct, however, i do not see it displayed in your article. the graphs represent four separate relationships that are functions, and in order to categorize the tables one would probably use bar graphs and those pass the vertical line test.
all in all a good post, though.
professor little