Determine if the following is always, sometimes, or never true.

y = -1/5 x + 3 is a function.

Question

Determine if the following is always, sometimes, or never true.

y = -1/5 x + 3 is a function.

imstuck · Answer

Yes, it is a function.  This is a linear equation; a straight line.  It passes the vertical line test, which means that a vertical line drawn through any point on the line will only go through it once.  Here's your line.|dw:1403018318118:dw|Going on into infinity, this line will never double back over itself to look like this, for example|dw:1403018395949:dw|A vertical line drawn through some portions of that graph will cross the graph in more than one spot.  That means it's not a function.  It has to pass the vertical line test in order to be a function.

imstuck · Answer

Does that help?  This is true for all linear functions.

anonymous · Answer

yes this really helped me out thank you for the explanation about linear functions i was lost for a bit since i missed the subject in class. thanks again

anonymous · Answer

the only thing that confuses me is will it always be a function in that format