PART A
Article - http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/17/landscapes-tainted-by-asbestos/?_php=true&_type=blogs&ref=science&_r=0
The function found in this article is the direct relation of amount of asbestos used in housing construction to illnesses caused by asbestos exposure.
Asbestos is used in strengthening parts of houses, affecting workers and residents living nearby sites that have used the mineral in construction.
The function is not directly linear, as illnesses and health levels are normally hard to measure quantitatively.
The function does not have a set rate of change, but rather has a relatively constant rate of change. Amount of asbestos used can give you an estimated amount of illnesses, but will not always stay true for all situations.
The function has inputs and outputs, but can probably not be modeled mathematically unless you were to plot recorded statistics of asbestos levels and illnesses caused by it.
PART B
Article - http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/16/technology/personaltech/review-waygo-translation-app-for-iphone.html?ref=personaltech
The relationship in this article is the ability of the smartphone app to input Chinese letters and output the English translation. This is all that the app does.
I know it is not a function because there is no way to model or see patterns in this app. Yes, there is one output to every input (depending on the accuracy of the app), but it is simply a language translation and mathematical function, but not a function.
Very interesting to see! Sometimes facts can be misleading, but you clearly explains why the app is not a function!
ReplyDeleteYes! Great job. Cool app!
ReplyDeletethe app article is cool- good application of functions to technology
ReplyDeleteblake,
ReplyDeletevery interesting article in your first example. so, just to clarify, the input here would be types of illnesses and the output would be amount of asbestos? you are correct in saying that relationship would not be linear and that it is not a mathematical model.
for your second example, if there is an output for each input then the relationship is a function. the question is whether there is more than one output per input. pretty sure this is a function.
professor little