Blog Post #2 Jeff Greenberg

Part a.

1. A function is a relationship where there’s one output value for a distinctly individual input value.

2. Number of Loggerhead Turtle Nests is a function of years.

http://www.onearth.org/blog/a-record-5000-sea-turtles-cold-stunned-in-florida

3. This is a function because every year the Green Sea Turtle nests grow and decline, making it a function.

4. This is a non-linear function because there isn’t an average rate of change, nor is there any constant increase or decrease. There are many fluctuations on the graph making the graph not constant.

5. If G= Loggerhead Turtle nests in Florida and x= years including 1988-2014, the function notation for this graph would be G=f(x). This is a mathematical model because the amount of Loggerhead Turtle nests in Florida depends on the year at which one counts. The output value (Loggerhead Turtle nests in Florida) depends on the input value (years including 1988-2014).

Part b.

1.     Something that’s not a function has more than one output value for an individual input value’

2.     http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/04/upshot/jobs-report-highlights-the-wage-growth-puzzle.html?rref=upshot&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=The%20Upshot&pgtype=article&abt=0002&abg=0

3.     The graph shows that as unemployment decreases, wage rate increases. The more unemployment the less wage until December 2009. From December 2010 and on, unemployment rates decreased rapidy until around December 2011. Then there’s a return to normal near 2014 when wage rates increase as unemployment decreases.

4.     This is not a function because there is more than one output (wage rate) for every input (unemployment rate). For example, when the unemployment rate is at 8%, wage rate is equal to both 1.3% in January 2012 and 3.75% in February 2008.