what does this mean...

[bar0029]

q1 mc from exam 2 2010 of tssm

what does the highlighted sentence mean ...

basically the question was asking to solve a system of linear equationd










 

[kenhung123]

Its telling you how to interpret the calculator. The calculator may give you another variable, but the question requires in term of p, so just change the variable to p

[TrueTears]

A parameter is another "variable" which describes your variables. So here, you would choose some values of p, maybe pick integer values, say 1, 2, 3... etc

[bar0029]

it doesnt give me an answer as a variable, it gives me exact constants ....

and also, if i have a question says, draw this graph for a pdf, and the variable for the pdf is t, for time, then when i draw it, along the x-axis do i draw y=0 along the entire axis or greater or equal to zero... because it is time even though it says f(t)=0 elsewhere???

[TrueTears]

when it says elsewhere it means ANYWHERE besides the domain for f(t). So sketch y = 0 for the part of the complement of the domain

[TrueTears]

it doesnt give me an answer as a variable, it gives me exact constants ....

and also, if i have a question says, draw this graph for a pdf, and the variable for the pdf is t, for time, then when i draw it, along the x-axis do i draw y=0 along the entire axis or greater or equal to zero... because it is time even though it says f(t)=0 elsewhere???

No the parameter p IS a variable, after substitution for some values of p obviously yields exact values...

[bar0029]

noooo noo noo, there are NO values given in terms of a parameter, p, i get exact values, like 13/5 .. there is no p in my answer.....

[TrueTears]

lol i know... p is a variable that describes YOUR variables x, y, z (that's the definition of a parameter) after you substitute some values in for p you will get exact values.

limme give you an example

say we got x = 2-p y = p z = 2/p

now if we set p = 1 we get x = 1, y = 1, z = 2.

See the set of solutions (1,1,2) is described by the parameter p = 1


You may ask "what's the point of having p in there? Why not just state x, y, z" this is because in some higher levels of maths, often parameters can describe curves which normal functions cannot (or will be ridiculously hard).

[bar0029]

oh m gee, i am so confused..

okay when i type it into my cas, to solve, am i supposed to get values in terms of p or no :S

im so sorry, im a drainer lol

[kenhung123]

Are you using ti89? You should get something with n, that's the parameter in calc. The question is in terms of p. p=n.

[bar0029]

im using ti-inspire.. and i dont get anything i terms of p or n ...
is it like when you solve for a gen solution for a trig function...
cause im not getting that

[itolduso]

A parameter is not a variable. It is a constant in the considered case.

[bar0029]

...

[itolduso]

look up a dictionary

[bar0029]

lol whatever, i'm getting nowhere with this, catch