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Direct Proportionality

Mathematics Grade 7 Difficulty 2/5

Beginning of the lesson

Прямая пропорциональность

Direct Proportionality

Алгебра · 7 класс

1. Введение — Introduction

Among all functions, the simplest ones are those where the right side is a monomial of the first degree with one variable. Such a function has a special name — прямая пропорциональность (direct proportionality).

You already know that a function is a rule that assigns to each value of the independent variable exactly one value of the dependent variable. Direct proportionality is the most basic and elegant example of such a rule.

Key Idea: In direct proportionality, when one quantity increases, the other increases by the same factor. When one doubles, the other doubles. When one triples, the other triples.

2. Определение — Definition

Определение (Definition)

Прямой пропорциональностью называется функция, которую можно задать формулой вида:

y = kx

где x — независимая переменная (аргумент), а k — не равное нулю число (k ≠ 0).

Why must k ≠ 0?

If k = 0, then y = 0 · x = 0 for all x. This would just be the constant function y = 0, which is not interesting as a proportionality — the value of y wouldn't depend on x at all!

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