Question: Three conditions must be met for a mathematical function to exist. We could name them x and y or an input value and an output

Three conditions must be met for a mathematical function to exist. We could name them x and y or an input value and an output value. We could write an equation to connect the two. It could be something like y = 3x 2 Each x value may be paired with only one y value. Now that last item is really important! Each x value may only match with one y value. Let's consider the equation y = 3x 2. If we chose to make the value of x equal to 7, then 3(7) 2 is equal to 23. Y cannot possibly be anything other than 23 for an x value of 7. X can pair with only one y. Now let's consider the equation y = x. Now let's chose to make the value of x equal to 16. The square root of 16 is 4. But couldn't it also be -4? While 4*4=16, so does (-4)*(-4) so there are two y values for the one x value therefore the original equation y = x is not a function. It is a relation, but not a function

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