
www.VirtualNerd.com
How Do You Write a Relation from a Word Problem?
Leo is the star basketball player for his high school team and has been compared to Lebron James. Over a season of five games, his free throw percentages were as follows: 55, 75, 4, 93, 96. Write a relation to show his free throw percentages over the five-game season and come up with a graph to show your data.
Summary
- x is a variable that stands for the game number
- y is a variable that stands for the free throw percentage
- We have 'x' and 'y' values to use ordered pairs, so let's use them!
- In set notation, we enclose a list of ordered pairs, like (x,y), in brackets like { and }
- Since the game numbers were the x-values, they will be on the x-axis
- Since the free throw percentages were the y-values, they will be on the y-axis
- FTP stands for free throw percentage
- We can plot the points of our relation on our graph

Notes
-
-
- In other words, a relation is a special grouping of points!
- 'x' and 'y' are variables
-
-
- 'x' and 'y' are variables
-
- 'x' is a variable
- Since there were only 5 games, we know that 'x' can be 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5
-
- 'y' is a variable
- 'y' can be any one of the free throw percentages: 55, 75, 4, 93, or 96
-
- Creating a table will give an organized look at the ordered pairs
-
- 'x' and 'y' are variables
-
- List 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 to represent each of the five games
-
- List the free throw percentages in order: 55, 75, 4, 93, or 96
-
-
- Since we're using set notation, we start and end this list with curly brackets, like these { and }
-
- A relation is a group of ordered pairs, or points
-
- 'x' is a variable
-
- 'y' is a variable
-
-