A student was asked to decide whether the function below is linear or nonlinear using both a table and a graphShe said the function is nonlinear because the rate of change is constant and the graph of the function is not a lineDecide whether the function is linear or nonlinear using both a table and a graphWhat mistake might the student have made?

Question

Y=5x^2

Complete the table of values for the function.

X

-2

-1

0

1

2

y

Answer 1

The student's mistake was in determining that the function is nonlinear based on the constant rate of change and the shape of the graph. The function is actually nonlinear because it contains a variable raised to a power greater than 1 (x^2).