Rate of Change of a Function Represented by a Table of Values

🏆Practice variation of a function

The rate of change of a function represented by a table of values allows us to compare the variation of the values of X X (the independent variable of the function) with the variation of the values of Y Y (dependent variable of the function). This comparison enables us to determine if the intervals are fixed or not, and, consequently, if the rate of change is constant or not.

Representation of a Function in a Table

A1 - Representation of a Function in a Table

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Given the following graph, determine whether function is constant

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For each X X we will fill in the corresponding Y Y .

We will see at what rate the Y Y variables increase in the table.
If the Y Y variables grow at the same rate, we can determine that the rate of change of the function is constant.

Function with Constant Rate of Change

We will illustrate this topic with the help of two different tables

Table of constant rate of change

Representation of the function in table

In this table, the first column represents the variables X X and the second, the variables Y Y according to their correspondence. 

If we look closely, we will see that there is a fixed rate that is maintained throughout all the values. For every increase in X X there is a corresponding increase of 1 1 in the Y Y variables.  

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Function with a non-constant rate of change

Table representation of a function with a non-constant rate of change

Table representation of a function with a non-constant rate of change

Also in this table, the first column represents the X X variables and the second the Y Y variables according to their correspondence.

If we look closely, we will see that in this case there is no fixed rate that remains stable across all values.


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Examples and exercises with solutions on the rate of change of a function represented by a table of values

Exercise #1

Given the following graph, determine whether the rate of change is uniform or not

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Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

Let's remember that if the function is not a straight line, its rate of change is not uniform.

Since the graph is not a straight line - the rate of change is not uniform.

Answer

Non-uniform

Exercise #2

Given the following graph, determine whether the rate of change is uniform or not

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Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

Let's remember that if the function is not a straight line, its rate of change is not uniform.

Since the graph is not a straight line - the rate of change is not uniform.

Answer

Non-uniform

Exercise #3

Given the following graph, determine whether the rate of change is uniform or not

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Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

Remember that if the function is a straight line, its rate of change will be constant.

Since the graph is a straight line - the rate of change is constant.

Answer

Uniform

Exercise #4

Look at the graph below and determine whether the function's rate of change is constant or not:

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Video Solution

Step-by-Step Solution

First we need to remember that if the function is not a straight line, its rate of change is not constant.

The rate of change is not uniform since the function is not a straight line.

Answer

Not constant

Exercise #5

Given the following graph, determine whether function is constant

–9–9–9–8–8–8–7–7–7–6–6–6–5–5–5–4–4–4–3–3–3–2–2–2–1–1–1111222333444555666777888999–4–4–4–3–3–3–2–2–2–1–1–1111222333444555666000

Video Solution

Answer

constant

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