Analysis of Functions
A Little History
The first graphing calculator was invented in 1921 by Edith Clarke. It was used to simplify calculations for electrical transmission lines. She developed mathematical methods that simplified and reduced the work of electrical engineers.
(Source: https://www.invent.org/inductees/edith-clarke#:)
Before this calculator was invented, engineers used tools such as slide rules, drafting tables, compasses, protractors, rulers, triangles, scales, French curves, drawing paper, pencils, pens, erasers, and mechanical calculators for complex calculations and design work, relying heavily on manual calculations.
(Source: https://www.chemengevolution.org/education-technology/working-in-the-pre-computer-age-of-the-1950s)
The first hand-held, commercial, graphing calculator, Casio fx7000G, was introduced to engineers, mathematicians, scientists, and statisticians in 1985. The development of this grapher (as well as those that followed) changed the process these individuals used to analyze the behavior of functions and solve problems in engineering, statistics, and math.
A little side note:
In 1945, the U.S. government built the mainframe, ENIAC - the first programmable general-purpose electronic digital computer. It was used during WWII. This machine was the fastest computational device and could do 5000 additions per second. It had no internal storage and was programmed manually, by women programmers, for each new set of calculations. ENIAC took up to 1,800 square feet of space and weighed 30 tons! To learn more about this mainframe, click the address - you might find this interesting!
(source: https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/worlds-first-general-purpose-computer-turns-75#)
Notice how technology has changed and obviously will continue to change. Think how "lucky" you are to have this small tool at your fingertips, making your math career easier.
Of course, having a graphing calculator is wonderful, and in this course, we are going to use the graphing calculator to not only crunch data and design graphs that model the data - but also be able to look at a given graph, identify where the function is increasing/decreasing, describe the concavities, determine the zeros, and find the factors of the function.
With that gathered information, you will generate the graph's equation - as a function -> f(x) =. Tools such as Desmos and the grapher will help us.
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Activity:
Take a few minutes to think about the above historical facts. After some reflection, write a paragraph sharing your thoughts about these technological changes and how technology will or might affect your life.
Save as Tech_Hist_LastName
Points: 8 pts
Upload to Google Classroom.