Precalculus Examples

$(x_{1}, f (x_{1}))$ and $(x_{2}, f (x_{2}))$

Step 1

To find the average rate of change, find the slope.

Step 2

Slope is equal to the change in $y$ over the change in $x$ , or rise over run.

$m = \frac{change in y}{change in x}$

Step 3

The change in $x$ is equal to the difference in x-coordinates (also called run), and the change in $y$ is equal to the difference in y-coordinates (also called rise).

$m = \frac{y_{2} - y_{1}}{x_{2} - x_{1}}$

Step 4

Substitute in the values of $x$ and $y$ into the equation to find the slope.

$m = \frac{f (x_{2}) - (f (x_{1}))}{x - (x)}$

Step 5

Simplify.

Tap for more steps...

Step 5.1

Subtract $x$ from $x$ .

$\frac{f x_{2} - (f x_{1})}{0}$

Step 5.2

The expression contains a division by $0$ . The expression is undefined.

Undefined