In the following exercise, you will be given the opportunity to recall what happens when you add two linear functions. Given: \( f(x)=2 x+3, g(x)=x+2 \), \( h(x)=x-5, m(x)=-3 x-1 \) 1. \( p(x)=f(x)+g(x) \) a. Write the equation of \( p(x) \). b. In what way is the slope of \( p(x) \) related to the slope of \( f(x) \) and the slope of \( g(x) \) ? (Include increasing or decreasing in your answer. Also identify which function is increasing faster.) c. In what way is the \( y \)-intercept of \( p(x) \) related to the \( y \)-intercepts of \( f(x) \) and of \( g(x) \) ? d. Is \( p(x) \) the equation of a line? Justify your answer.
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To find the equation of \( p(x) \), begin by adding the two functions together: 1. \( p(x) = f(x) + g(x) = (2x + 3) + (x + 2) \). Simplifying this gives: \[ p(x) = 2x + 3 + x + 2 = 3x + 5. \] So, the equation of \( p(x) \) is \( p(x) = 3x + 5 \). For part b, the slope of \( p(x) \) is 3. The slopes of \( f(x) \) and \( g(x) \) are 2 and 1, respectively. Since \( p(x) \)'s slope is the sum of the two, the slopes relate as follows: as both functions have positive slopes, \( p(x) \) is also increasing. Specifically, \( f(x) \) increases faster than \( g(x) \) since it has a larger slope (2 vs. 1). In part c, the \( y \)-intercepts of \( f(x) \) and \( g(x) \) are 3 and 2, respectively. When we find \( p(0) \), which is the \( y \)-intercept of \( p(x) \), we calculate \( p(0) = 3(0) + 5 = 5 \). Therefore, the \( y \)-intercept of \( p(x) \) is the sum of the \( y \)-intercepts of \( f(x) \) and \( g(x) \): \( 3 + 2 = 5 \). For part d, yes, \( p(x) \) is the equation of a line. Any function that can be expressed in the form \( y = mx + b \), where \( m \) is the slope and \( b \) is the \( y \)-intercept, describes a line. Since \( p(x) = 3x + 5 \) fits this format, it is indeed linear!