Brainteaserfan Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Is an intercept where the graph meets or crosses the axis? For example, in the function, f(x)=x^2(x-4), is the point (0,0) an x-intercept? PS- I put this in this forum because I thought it fit best here. I already asked my teacher, but wanted another opinion, as I found conflicting info online. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vastor Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Is an intercept where the graph meets or crosses the axis? For example, in the function, f(x)=x^2(x-4), is the point (0,0) an x-intercept? PS- I put this in this forum because I thought it fit best here. I already asked my teacher, but wanted another opinion, as I found conflicting info online. Thanks in advance! yes, and yes. anything that result the y = 0, like (5, 0) is x-intercept... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brainteaserfan Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 yes, and yes. anything that result the y = 0, like (5, 0) is x-intercept... Thanks! That's what my teacher said. I just wanted another opinion! Here is one of the sources that made me wonder: http://cs.selu.edu/~rbyrd/math/intercept/. It states that an intercept is where a line crosses an axis, but then it goes on to say exactly what you said. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hal. Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 (edited) Brainteaserfan , I read the information at the link you provided and here I'll give a meaning for an intercept that as far as I know is totally correct . The link you give has the intercept's as being the actual points where the lines cross the axes . I have always used the actual points where the lines cross axes to calculate the distance from these points to the origin ( 0 , 0 ) and these distances are called the ' intercepts ' . If a line crosses the x axis at the point ( 8 , 0 ) then the intercept using the method of your link is the actual point ( 8 , 0 ) . If a line crosses the x axis at the point ( 8 , 0 ) then the intercept using the method that I describe is a value of 8 . Edited June 5, 2011 by Hal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brainteaserfan Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 Brainteaserfan , I read the information at the link you provided and here I'll give a meaning for an intercept that as far as I know is totally correct . The link you give has the intercept's as being the actual points where the lines cross the axes . I have always used the actual points where the lines cross axes to calculate the distance from these points to the origin ( 0 , 0 ) and these distances are called the ' intercepts ' . If a line crosses the x axis at the point ( 8 , 0 ) then the intercept using the method of your link is the actual point ( 8 , 0 ) . If a line crosses the x axis at the point ( 8 , 0 ) then the intercept using the method that I describe is a value of 8 . Interesting. Could you give me a source? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hal. Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 These 2 links contain the first meaning where an intercept is taken to be the point where the axis is intersected . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_of_a_function http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-intercept The following book gives the meaning of an intercept as being the distance to the point from the origin ( 0 , 0 ) . Calculus 6th Edition , Howard Anton , 1999 , John Wiley and Sons , Appendix B , page A20 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brainteaserfan Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 These 2 links contain the first meaning where an intercept is taken to be the point where the axis is intersected . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_of_a_function http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-intercept The following book gives the meaning of an intercept as being the distance to the point from the origin ( 0 , 0 ) . Calculus 6th Edition , Howard Anton , 1999 , John Wiley and Sons , Appendix B , page A20 . Maybe you should post that source in the discussion section of Wikipedia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hal. Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Brainteaserfan , you post the source in the Wiki discussion section ! Post a link back here , if there is a link , where I can see what goes on in wiki discussions . Bare in mind , there may be a few more mathmatical interpretations of the word ' Intercept '. Book Name : Calculus , A New Horizon , Sixth Edition Author : Howard Anton ( Drexel University ) Year : 1999 Publisher : John Wiley & Sons , Inc. ISBN : 0 - 471 - 15306 - 0 Section : Appendix B Page : A 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brainteaserfan Posted June 9, 2011 Author Share Posted June 9, 2011 Brainteaserfan , you post the source in the Wiki discussion section ! Post a link back here , if there is a link , where I can see what goes on in wiki discussions . Bare in mind , there may be a few more mathmatical interpretations of the word ' Intercept '. Book Name : Calculus , A New Horizon , Sixth Edition Author : Howard Anton ( Drexel University ) Year : 1999 Publisher : John Wiley & Sons , Inc. ISBN : 0 - 471 - 15306 - 0 Section : Appendix B Page : A 20 I tried. Maybe something's wrong with my computer, but it didn't seem to work. That's why I asked you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hal. Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Brainteaserfan , I looked at the Wiki and I think a new article would have to be started to include the definition of ' Intercept ' which is in the book I quote from . There is a wizard at the Wiki which helps account holders to make articles but it requires a certain Wiki Etiquette for the formatting . An article can be sent to a human editor to be viewed and checked before it is published on it's own Wiki page . This is the only time I ever looked at writing Wiki articles , I think I would go through the learning curve for article writing for something a bit more important than an ' Intercept ' . But , it is very important at times , a contradiction appears ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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