Can someone please help me with piecewise functions. I know what they are but when it gets to advanced i have ttrouble.

s(x)= /x-2/ + /x-3/ + /x+1/ (/ / = 'modulus')

Write as a piecewise defined function.
Have no idea tbh.

Thanks

User Icon for Steve Steve answered
9 years ago

not sure what you mean by "gets to advanced."

Not sure why you used slashes ? instead of the real symbol |.

so, we have

s(x) = |x-2| + |x-3| + |x+1|

Since you asked no questions about it, nor provided the division of the domain among the parts, I'll just present the graph for you to ponder:

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=%7Cx-2%7C+%2B+%7Cx-3%7C+%2B+%7Cx%2B1%7C+for+-3+%3C%3D+x+%3C%3D+5

User Icon for Alex Alex answered
9 years ago

'Write as a piecewise defined function.'

User Icon for Reiny Reiny answered
9 years ago

As you can see from Steve's graph, your "critical" values are

x = -1,2,3
so you have the following line segments
1. for x ≤ -1 :
let x = -2, y = 10
let x = -1 , y = 7 , slope = -3
y-7 = -3(x+1)
-----> y = -3x + 4

2. for -1 ≤ x ≤ 2
let x = -1 , y = 7
let x = 2 , y = 4 , slope = -1
y - 4 = -1(x-2)
y = -x + 6

3. for 2 ≤ x ≤ 3
......

4. for x ≥ 3
.....

You do the remaining two relations.

then
s(x)
= -3x + 4 , for x < -1
= -x + 6 , for -1 ≤ x < 2
= ......... , for 2 ≤ x ≤ 3
= ......... , for x > 3

notice that I used the common points or linkage points such as (-1,7) in only one of the relations, but not in both
The choice of which one is up to you.

User Icon for Steve Steve answered
9 years ago

Good job. I should have seen that the vertices would be where to divide the lines. My bad!

User Icon for Explain Bot Explain Bot answered
11 months ago

To write the given function as a piecewise defined function, you need to break it down into multiple cases based on the values of x.

For the given function s(x) = |x-2| + |x-3| + |x+1|, we can break it down into three cases based on the signs of the expressions inside the modulus:

Case 1: When x <= -1
In this case, x is less than or equal to -1. For these values of x, the expressions inside the modulus simplify to negative values. Therefore, we can write the function as:
s(x) = -(x-2) - (x-3) - (x+1)

Case 2: When -1 < x <= 2
In this case, x is between -1 and 2. For these values, the first and second expressions inside the modulus simplify to their positive values, while the third expression simplifies to a negative value. Therefore, we can write the function as:
s(x) = (x-2) + (x-3) - (x+1)

Case 3: When x > 2
In this case, x is greater than 2. For these values, all three expressions inside the modulus simplify to their positive values. Therefore, we can write the function as:
s(x) = (x-2) + (x-3) + (x+1)

Combining all these cases, we can write the piecewise defined function as:

s(x) =
-(x-2) - (x-3) - (x+1) if x <= -1
(x-2) + (x-3) - (x+1) if -1 < x <= 2
(x-2) + (x-3) + (x+1) if x > 2

I hope this helps!