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Melzy11
Jun 12, 2007, 12:47 PM
Now that I finally understand functions and how they work, I have one more question about them. I apologize in advance if this is a repeat question. The question is 2 cars are leaving at a difference of 3 hours. The first car is written as d(t)=50t t represents the time in hours, and 50 is the miles the first car is gone. The second car leaves 3 hours later so I simply d2(t) = 50t-3, the question is how are the two graphs of these functions related? I don't know how to figure this out. Do I have to graph it out in order to find this answer? :confused:

asterisk_man
Jun 12, 2007, 07:06 PM
first off, if the position of the first car is d(t)=50t then 50 is the speed that the car is traveling at. If the second car leaves 3 hours later at the same speed as the first then its position will be d2(t)=50(t-3). To see how the two graphs are related just look at the functions. Or if that won't do it for you try to pick out a few interesting points and see how the two functions differ at those points. Maybe try t=3 and t=6 just for fun.