Three friends, Lisa, Carl, and Brian are comparing the number of gold coins they have earned in the Wizard World video game. Brian has earned twice as many gold coins as Carl. Lisa has earned a third of the gold coins that Brian has earned. Altogether, the three friends have earned 66 gold coins. How many gold coins did each friend earn?

part a

answer: a reasonable domain is where n is a real number. so n can be between 0 and 10. both endpoints are included.

work shown:

n is the number of days after the experiment starts. the smallest n can be is n = 0 which means that 0 days have gone by, and we're at the start. to find out how large n should be, then replace f(n) with 16.13 and solve for n. use logarithms to isolate the exponent.

f(n) = 12*(1.03)^n

16.13 = 12*(1.03)^n

16.13/12 = (1.03)^n

1.34416666666667 = (1.03)^n

(1.03)^n = 1.34416666666667

log[ (1.03)^n ] = log[ 1.34416666666667 ]

n*log[ 1.03 ] = log[ 1.34416666666667 ]

n = log[ 1.34416666666667 ]/log[ 1.03 ]

n = 10.0062999823929

this rounds to n = 10 which is fairly close but not 100% perfect. so this is the largest n can be.

note: if you plug n = 10 into f(n), you'll get roughly 16.127 which rounds to 16.13 (this comes up again in part c)

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part b

answer: the y intercept is 12. it represents the starting height of the plant in cm.

work shown:

plug n = 0 into the f(n) function. simplify

f(n) = 12*(1.03)^n

f(0) = 12*(1.03)^0

f(0) = 12*(1)

f(0) = 12

on day n = 0, aka the starting point, the height f(n) is 12 cm

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part c

answer: the average rate of change is approximately 0.43061036458991 (round however you need to). this represents the average growth rate from day n = 3 to day n = 10. so the plant grew roughly 0.43 cm per day during this timespan, assuming you round to 2 decimal places.

work shown:

compute f(3)

f(n) = 12*(1.03)^n

f(3) = 12*(1.03)^3

f(3) = 13.112724 < we'll use this later

compute f(10)

f(n) = 12*(1.03)^n

f(10) = 12*(1.03)^10

f(10) = 16.1269965521294 < we'll use this later

now use the formula below with a = 3 and b = 10

aroc = average rate of change

aroc = [ f(b) - f(a) ]/[ b - a ]

aroc = [ f(10) - f(3) ]/[ 10 - 3 ]

aroc = (16.1269965521294 - 13.112724)/(10 - 3)

aroc = 3.0142725521294/7

aroc = 0.43061036458991

round this however you need to

note: the plant grew approximately 3.01 cm over 7 days, so roughly 0.43 cm per day is the average growth rate (if you were to round to 2 decimal places).

when functions are first introduced, you will probably have some simplistic "functions" and relations to deal with, usually being just sets of points. these won't be terribly useful or interesting functions and relations, but your text wants you to get the idea of what the domain and range of a function are. small sets of points are generally the simplest sorts of relations, so your book starts with those.

step-by-step explanation:

state the domain and range of the following relation. is the relation a function?

{(2, –3), (4, 6), (3, –1), (6, 6), (2, 3)}

the above list of points, being a relationship between certain x's and certain y's, is a relation. the domain is all the x-values, and the range is all the y-values. to give the domain and the range, i just list the values without duplication:

domain: {2, 3, 4, 6}

range: {–3, –1, 3, 6}

(it is customary to list these values in numerical order, but it is not required. sets are called "unordered lists", so you can list the numbers in any order you feel like. just don't duplicate: technically, repetitions are okay in sets, but most instructors would count off for this.)

while the given set does indeed represent a relation (because x's and y's are being related to each other), the set they gave me contains two points with the same x-value: (2, –3) and (2, 3). since x = 2 gives me two possible destinations (that is, two possible y-values), then this relation is not a function.

note that all i had to do to check whether the relation was a function was to look for duplicate x-values. if you find any duplicate x-values, then the different y-values mean that you do not have a function. remember: for a relation to be a function, each x-value has to go to one, and only one, y-value.

state the domain and range of the following relation. is the relation a function?

{(–3, 5), (–2, 5), (–1, 5), (0, 5), (1, 5), (2, 5)}

i'll just list the x-values for the domain and the y-values for the range: