6. Analyzing Functions with Successive Differences
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How do the consecutive terms relate to each other?
Linear
We want to identify which kind of model best describes the data: linear, quadratic or exponential. To do so we will calculate the difference between consecutive terms.
| x | -3 | -2 | -1 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| y | -6.75 | -7.5 | -8.25 | -9 |
Let's begin with calculating the first differences.
Since the first differences are all equal, the table of values represents a linear function.