Graphs of Linear Equations
Key Questions
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A table is just a basic way of organizing data into rows and columns. If you have some information like high temperature for each day of the year your table might look like this:
<pre>
DAY High Temperature (ºC)
January 1 2
January 2 -5
January 3 -7
</pre>You could write this out in text like this: "On January first the high temperature was 2 degrees celsius. On January second the high temperature was seven degrees colder...." The problem with this is that it makes it very difficult to understand the information and takes a lot of text. A well organized table allows you to quickly scan through a set of data and see simple trends. It also stores information very efficiently and makes it easy to update without making errors.
If you're doing simple graphing for a math class, the headings of the columns will be more boring things like X and Y.
<pre>
X Y
0 0
1 2
2 4
3 9
</pre> -
This questions is a bit confusing, but I think I know what you're saying.
A linear equation, when graphed, is always a straight line. So if you had two variables, your equation would look something like this:
y = 3x + 4
The "y" technically is another variable, but by putting the equation into this form, it does not matter anymore.
On a graph, a linear equation would begin somewhere on the y-axis and continue in a straight line in any direction from there.
Hope this helped
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The easiest way to sketch the graph of a linear equation is to find any two distinct points on the graph such as intercepts, then draw a straight line through them.
I hope that this was helpful.
Questions
Graphs of Linear Equations and Functions
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Graphs in the Coordinate Plane
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Graphs of Linear Equations
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Horizontal and Vertical Line Graphs
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Applications of Linear Graphs
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Intercepts by Substitution
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Intercepts and the Cover-Up Method
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Slope
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Rates of Change
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Slope-Intercept Form
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Graphs Using Slope-Intercept Form
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Direct Variation
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Applications Using Direct Variation
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Function Notation and Linear Functions
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Graphs of Linear Functions
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Problem Solving with Linear Graphs