Families of Functions, Piecewise, and Transformations
Piecewise functions consist of different function rules for different parts of the domain.
2x + 1 if x ≤ 2 x 2 – 4 if x > 2 h(x) = h(–1) = 2(–1) + 1 = –1 h(4) = 4 2 – 4 = 12 Evaluate each piecewise function for x = –1 and x = 4. To evaluate any piecewise function for a specific input, find the interval of the domain that contains that input and then use the rule for that interval.
2 x if x ≤ –1 5x if x > –1 g(x) = g(4) = 5(4) = 20 g(–1) = 2 (–1) = 1 2 Evaluate each piecewise function for x = –1 and x = 4.
3x if x < 0 5x – 2 if x ≥ 0 g(x) = g(3) = 5(3) – 2 = 13 g(–1) = 3(–1) = 4 Evaluate each piecewise function for x = –1 and x = 3.
g(x) = 1 4 Graph each function. x + 3 if x < 0 –2x + 3 if x ≥ 0
The rounding down function is also called the greatest integer function.
Greatest integer or rounding down function
Example: Describe the transformations that have taken place in each of the related graphs: