CPM Homework Help : APCALC Problem 7-115

If the graph at right represents distance over time between a space shuttle and Earth, how would you determine the average velocity? Describe the method you would use.

Hint:

Given a distance function, will average velocity be represented by 'average area under the curve' or 'average rate of change'?

Average (Mean) Values

To calculate the mean (average) value of a finite set of items, add up the values of items and divide by the number of items.

Integrals help us add over a continuous interval. Therefore, for any continuous function $f$ :

$\frac{\int_a^bf(x)dx}{b-a}=$ mean value of $f$ over $[a, b]$

First quadrant, bell curve labeled, f of x, left end point on the y axis, labeled, a, right end point labeled, b, dashed horizontal segment, about 1 fourth up from x axis to peak, labeled average, & shaded rectangle between, A & b, segment & x axis.

Since $\int _ { a } ^ { b } f ( x ) d x$ , we can also calculate the average value of any function $f$ using its antiderivative $F$ . Its average slope gives the average rate of change of $F$ , which is the same as the average value of $f.$

$\frac{\int_a^bf(x)dx}{b-a}=\frac { F ( b ) - F ( a ) } { b - a }=$ mean rate of change of $F ′$ over $[a, b]$

First quadrant, 2 tick marks on x axis, first at the origin labeled, A, second almost to the right end, labeled b, Increasing curve labeled, capital F of x, starting at the origin, changing from concave up to concave down, in center of quadrant, ending at point corresponding to, b, almost at the top, with dashed segment labeled, m = average, from origin to end point of curve.

First quadrant, x axis labeled time, hours, y axis labeled distance, miles, decreasing curve starting at top of y axis, dropping about half way & running about a third, leveling out, running another sixth, changing from concave up to concave down, running about another sixth, then dropping to the x axis.