y = f(x)
“y is a function of x“
To understand how to graph, you must be comfortable with the expression y = f(x). Imagine there is a factory that only accepts the letter x. Once x enters the factory, the laborers inside the building work on x. Their job is to cut the right leg off of the x and paint the letter x purple–converting the letter x into the letter y. That y then leaves the factory. This is what a function or a factory does: it takes an ‘input’ and converts it to an ‘output.’ Let’s use the same idea on a real function:
y = factory(x)
“y is what you get when x goes into the factory“
