Re: Variation table for HP39gII Message #13 Posted by Bunuel66 on 13 Aug 2012, 2:58 p.m., in response to message #12 by Walter B
Well, it is a bit of historical interest now. But before graphing calculators were widely spread among students it was a very 'popular' exercise in math teaching for 'analyzing a function'. The game was to plot the function by hand. There is a kind of systematic method which was teach intensely to math students. And it is a very concrete and immediate application of the notion of derivative.
Lot of stupid conclusions have been avoided by building a 'table of variations'.
Beside history, it is of interest for functions with discontinuities where graphing algorithms can fail and for getting a firm understanding of a function.
Sometimes it is amazing what you can do with a paper and a pencil, even without an HP calculator....;-)
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