Precalculus Functions and Graphs: A Graphing Approach

Part of the market-leading Graphing Approach Series by Larson, Hostetler, and Edwards, Precalculus Functions and Graphs: A Graphing Approach, 5/e, is an ideal student and instructor resource for courses that require the use of a graphing calculator. The quality and quantity of the exercises, combined with interesting applications and innovative resources, make teaching easier and help students succeed.

Continuing the series' emphasis on student support, the Fifth Edition introduces Prerequisite Skills Review. For selected examples throughout the text, the Prerequisite Skills Review directs students to previous sections in the text to review concepts and skills needed to master the material at hand. In addition, prerequisite skills review exercises in Eduspace (see below for description) are referenced in every exercise set.

The Larson team achieves accessibility through careful writing and design, including examples with detailed solutions that begin and end on the same page, which maximizes the readability of the text. Similarly, side-by-side solutions show algebraic, graphical, and numerical representations of the mathematics and support a variety of learning styles.

New! The Nutshell Appendix reviews the essentials of each function, discussed in the Library of Functions feature, and offers study capsules with properties, methods, and examples of the major concepts covered in the textbook. This appendix is an ideal study aid for students. New! Progressive Summaries outline newly introduced topics every three chapters and contextualize them within the framework of the course. New! Make a Decision exercises extended modeling applications presented at the end of selected exercise sets give students the opportunity to apply the mathematical concepts and techniques they've learned to large sets of real data. Updated! The Library of Functions, threaded throughout the text, defines each elementary function and its characteristics at first point of use. The Fifth Edition incorporates new exercises that tests students' understanding of these functions. All elementary functions are also presented in a summary on the front endpapers of the text for convenient reference. Updated! The Chapter Summaries have been updated to include the Key Terms and Key concepts that are covered in the chapter. These chapter summaries are an effective study aid because they provide a single point of reference for review. Updated! The Proofs of Selected Theorems are now presented at the end of each chapter for easy reference. The Larson team provides an abundance of features that help students use technology to visualize and understand mathematical concepts. Technology Tips point out the pros and cons of technology use in certain mathematical situations. They also provide alternative methods of solving or checking a problem using a graphing calculator. Students may sometimes be misled by the visuals generated by graphing calculators, so the authors use color to enhance the graphing calculator displays in the textbook, where appropriate. This enables students to visualize concepts accurately and efficiently. Technology Support notes appear throughout the text and refer students to the Technology Support Appendix, where they can learn how to use specific graphing calculator features to enhance their understanding of the concepts presented. The Technology Support notes also direct students to the Graphing Technology Guide, on the textbook's website, for keystroke support for numerous calculator models. Carefully positioned throughout the text, Explorations engage students in active discovery of mathematical concepts, strengthening critical thinking skills and helping them to develop an intuitive understanding of theoretical concepts. What You Should Learn and Why You Should Learn It appears at the beginning of each chapter and section, offering students a succinct list of the concepts they will soon encounter. Additionally, this feature refers students to an application in the exercise set which helps put the math concept into a real-life context so students can understand it better. To help prepare students who intend to move on to Calculus, the authors have placed an icon next to algebraic techniques that are used in Calculus.

Dr. Ron Larson is a professor of mathematics at The Pennsylvania State University, where he has taught since 1970. He received his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Colorado and is considered the pioneer of using multimedia to enhance the learning of mathematics, having authored over 30 software titles since 1990. Dr. Larson conducts numerous seminars and in-service workshops for math educators around the country about using computer technology as an instructional tool and motivational aid. He is the recipient of the 2014 William Holmes McGuffey Longevity Award for CALCULUS: EARLY TRANSCENDENTAL FUNCTIONS, the 2014 Text and Academic Authors Association TEXTY Award for PRECALCULUS, the 2012 William Holmes McGuffey Longevity Award for CALCULUS: AN APPLIED APPROACH, and the 1996 Text and Academic Authors Association TEXTY Award for INTERACTIVE CALCULUS (a complete text on CD-ROM that was the first mainstream college textbook to be offered on the Internet). Dr. Larson authors numerous textbooks including the best-selling Calculus series published by Cengage Learning.