Question

Diego was asked to plot these points: (−50,0) ( − 50 , 0 ) , (150,100) ( 150 , 100 ) , (200,−100) ( 200 , − 100 ) , (350,50) ( 350 , 50 ) , (−250,0) ( − 250 , 0 ) . What interval could he use for each axis?

Answer 1

Use an interval of 50, because all the

coordinates involve points that are greater than 50 and multiples of 50.

Answer 2

Answer:

We have the points:

(-50, 0)

(150, 100)

(200, -100)

(350, 50)

(-250, 0)

First, we need to find the smallest and largest values of the x-component.

The smallest value is x = -250

The largest value is x = 350

Then the interval that we choose for the x-axis should include these two values (so we can plot the points)

Then we need to use, at least, the interval [-250, 350]  (A interval that is a little bit larger than that will be easier to read, but that is the minimum he needs to do the plot)

Now let's do the same with the values of the y-components.

The smallest value is y = - 100

The largest value is y = 100

Then the vertical interval should be [-100, 100] or a little bit larger, like in the horizontal case.

We also can see that the values of x and y seem to jump in multiples of 50, then each unit of the grid could represent 50 units, so it is easier to plot. (These are also called intervals, and also theses will depend on each individual axis, but in this case we could use the same for both of them, because it works well for both axis)