Question

The function y = f (x) is graphed below. What is the average rate of change of the function f(x) on the interval - 5≤ x ≤3?

Answer 1

Given data:

The given graph.

The limits of x are - 5≤ x ≤3.

The expression for average rate of change is,

$\begin{gathered} r=\frac{f(3)-f(-5)}{3-(-5)} \\ =\frac{f(3)-f(-5)}{8} \end{gathered}$

Substitute the given values in the above expression.

$\begin{gathered} r=\frac{12-(-4)}{8} \\ =\frac{16}{8} \\ =2 \end{gathered}$

Thus, the average rate of change is 2.