SOLUTION: i am really lost and have no clue what a function is. i have a paper in front of me sorta explaining it but i am lost. what i really don't understand is what a function notation is

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Question 205561: i am really lost and have no clue what a function is. i have a paper in front of me sorta explaining it but i am lost. what i really don't understand is what a function notation is. but any other tips or how tos for functions would be great and graphing.
Found 2 solutions by rfer, stanbon:
Answer by rfer(16322) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
A function is a relationship or association such that for each inpu x there is exactly one output y.
The notation f(x) is read "function of x" or "f of x" The f and x in f(x) are not being multiplied.

Answer by stanbon(75887) (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
i am really lost and have no clue what a function is. i have a paper in front of me sorta explaining it but i am lost. what i really don't understand is what a function notation is. but any other tips or how tos for functions would be great and graphing.
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Here's an example.
Every house in a neighborhood has a value.
The set of pairs of (house,value) is a function
because each house has only one value.
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Value for any house many be the value of many homes in the neighborhood.
That set of pairs of (value,house) is not a function
because each value many have many houses paired with it.
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f(x) means, the value that is paired with x: like (x,f(x))
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Graphs:
Say you have a curvy looking graph.
If every possible vertical line you could draw intersects the
graph only once, the curve is the graph of a function.
Example:

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Cheers,
Stan H.