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Re: Application to graphs
Posted:
Sep 20, 2006 1:47 PM
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SportsNut wrote:
> I am teaching a pre-calculus class and my students
> seem very inquisitive. We are starting the topic of
> "families of graphs" tomorrow and I would like to know
> any real world applications you can think of that would
> be modeled by these equations.
>
> Thanks!
>
> y= x^3
Volume of a cube as a function of side.
If you add a proportionality constant
y = ax^3
then it's the variation of volume with any
linear dimension. Take an elephant with
height 10 feet, and a scale model of the
elephant with height 1 foot. The volume
of the actual elephant is 1000 times the volume
of the model. You could probably come up
with other examples that would appeal to the
students (sculpture, pouring concrete,
filling a jar with M&M's).
- Randy
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