Average Rate of Change

Average Rate of Change

Our world is dynamic. As such it is always in a state of change; always evolving. Throughout the day, people constantly consider the effects of some kind of change upon their lives. In other words, how will one factor affect the outcome of another factor? Sometimes we may want to know how something changes over a period of time. For example, the summer is quickly approaching. You may be considering a summer vacation that entails driving. You may want to know the miles per gallon your vehicle will get as well as the miles per hour to reach your destination. One way to determine or calculate this kind of change is to use a formula called the average rate of change formula. The average rate of change formula can help you answer both of these questions. We can use the average rate of change formula to gain a better perspective of this unique cause and effect relationship. The miles per gallon would be calculated by dividing the number of miles by the number of gallons used. The miles per hour could be determined by the number of miles traveled by the number of hours it takes to travel them. As you see, this concept of using the average rate of change formula is not a new concept. In fact, we probably use the average rate of change formula more frequently than we realize.

* A is the name of this average rate of change function

* x - a represents the change in the input of the function f

* f(x) - f(a) represents the change in the function f as the input changes from a to x

Reference:

Steig, J. (2009). Average Rate of Change Function. Retrieved from http://www.mesacc.edu/~marfv02121/readings/average/index.html