Mastering Functions and Graphs: From Evaluation to Difference Quotients

The Organic Chemistry Tutor

This comprehensive math tutorial serves as a multiple-choice and free-response review covering the essential concepts of functions and graphs. The video functions as a practice quiz, guiding viewers through eleven distinct problems that progress from basic function evaluation to more advanced algebraic concepts. The narrator explicitly encourages active participation by suggesting viewers pause the video to solve problems independently before watching the step-by-step solutions. Key mathematical themes include evaluating quadratic and absolute value functions, applying the Vertical Line Test to identify functions, and interpreting graphs to find inputs, outputs, and intervals of increase or decrease. The video also covers identifying relative extrema (maximums and minimums), evaluating piecewise functions, determining domain and range using interval notation, and calculating the difference quotient for radical functions—a critical skill for pre-calculus and calculus. For educators, this video is an excellent tool for exam review or as a flipped classroom resource for Algebra 2 and Pre-Calculus units. It provides clear, visual demonstrations of how to read graphs and manipulate algebraic expressions. The step-by-step walkthrough of the difference quotient using conjugates is particularly valuable for students preparing for calculus limits.