Piecewise & Absolute Value

Functions with different rules

An interactive lesson with 6 steps, about 5 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• Piecewise functions use different rules on different intervals.
• $|x|$ is the distance from 0; $a|x - h|$ is a V with corner at $(h, 0)$.
• Tax bands apply rates only to income within each band.

Steps

1. Different rules in different places
2. Move the V
3. Income tax
4. A myth about tax bands
5. Which rule applies?
6. Solving with |x|