12 Questions

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course Mth 164

Your basic instructions follow. Rather than giving you the instructions at the beginning of the document, you were given a couple of questions to serve as a point of reference, and should now be better prepared to understand the instructions:1. Answer each question, then look at the given solution:

It is expected that you will answer each question before looking at the given solution. There is no grade penalty for looking ahead, but if you do you:

• may be bypassing an opportunity to engage yourself in the solution process

• run the risk of deluding yourself about what you understand

• are likely to learn much less and

• are not as likely to do well in the course.

However your instructor understands the tradeoffs involved in being a student, and makes no judgement about how you should use this material. As long as you use it to your best advantage and succeed on tests and other course activities, you will get a good result from this course.

2. If you can't readily work it out in your head, use pencil and paper, and keep a record of your work.

You aren't expected to work out your solutions by staring at a computer screen, though you will likely find many questions and problems easy enough to do 'in your head'. However on more challenging problems, it's easier to work things out using a handwritten document than a computer-created or word-processed document.

• You should in general work out your answers to non-obvious problems on paper, jotting down sketches, diagrams and notes as you go, in such a way that you can make sense of it later. This will help you focus your work and maintain your train of thought, and will be quite valuable for periodic review. It is recommended (and may in some courses be required) that you dedicate a notebook to this course, and at least sketch out your work in the notebook.

3. There's no need for special formatting or graphs:

• Don't use special characters in your responses (e.g., characters like a, D, r that don't appear on your keyboard). The characters on your keyboard suffice to answer all these questions. If you use special characters they won't come through the form you use to submit your work, and if you use too many such characters your instructor might not be able to tell what you are saying.

• Don't try to make graphs in your document. Sketch your graphs by hand, then if necessary describe them in words (that probably won't be necessary in the present exercise; more about that later). Graphs won't come through when you submit your work. You can make a graph without understanding it, but you can't give a good description of your graph without understanding it. Your instructor doesn't need to see your graphs; he needs to see your descriptions of your graphs. The present exercise doesn't require extensive descriptions of graphs; it they apply to your course, you will see more about describing your graphs soon.

• When you submit this document (per instructions at the end), it will come to the instructor in pure text format. Any formatting you have done will not be seen by the instructor, special characters will not appear in what the instructor sees, and graphs won't come through. So don't do any fancy formatting for the instructor. You will of course want to save your original copy, and you are welcome to add formatting for your own purposes.

4. Expect to see your work posted by the instructor in a timely manner:

After submitting your work, per instructions at the end of this document, you should expect to see your work posted, along with instructor commentary, at your access page. It should be posted by the evening of the day after you submit it, and may well be posted the evening of the same day.

You have probably submitted your answers the first two questions in a preceding task. You are welcome to answer them again, but if you have already submitted them you may go ahead and skip to the third question.

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Question: `q001. If you are earning money at the rate of 8 dollars / hour and work for 4 hours, how much money do you make during this time? Answer in such a way as to explain your reasoning as fully as possible. A solution to this problem appears several lines below, but enter your own solution before you look at the given solution.

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Your solution: (type in your solution starting in the next line)

1 hour of work would result in 8 dollars, therefore you multiply 4 by 8 to get the correct answer. 4*8 = $32

confidence rating #$&*:

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Your Confidence Rating should be entered on the line above, after the colon at the end of the prompt.

Your Confidence Rating is a number from 0 to 3, which is to indicate your level of confidence in your solution.

3 means you are at least 90% confident of your solution, or that you are confident you got at least 90% of the solution

2 means that you are more that 50% confident of your solution, or that you are confident you got at least 50% of the solution

1 means that you think you probably got at least some of the solution correct but don't think you got the whole thing

0 means that you're pretty sure you didn't get anything right)

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Given Solution: 8 dollars / hour means '8 dollars per hour', indicating that for every hour you work you earn 8 dollars. If you work for 4 hours, then if you earn 8 dollars for every one of those hours you earn 4 * 8 dollars = 32 dollars.

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Self-critique (if necessary): If you are sure your solution matches the given solution, and/or are sure you completely understand the given solution, then just type in 'OK'.

Otherwise you should include a self-critique. In your self-critique you should explain in your own words how your solution differs from the given solution, and demonstrate what you did not originally understand but now understand about the problem and its solution.

Note that your instructor scans your document for questions and indications that you are having difficulty, usually beginning with your self-critique.

• If no self-critique is present, your instructor assumes you understand the solution to your satisfaction and do not need additional information or assistance.

• If you do not fully understand the given solution, and/or if you still have questions after reading and taking notes on the given solution, you should self-critique in the manner described in the preceding paragraph.

Insert your 'OK' or your self-critique, as appropriate, starting in the next line:

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Self-critique Rating: OK

Your self-critique rating should be entered on the line above, after the colon at the end of the prompt.

Your self-critique rating is a number from 0 to 3, which is to indicate your level of confidence in your solution.

(If you believe your solution matches the given solution then just type in 'OK'.

Otherwise evaluate the quality of your self-critique by typing in a number between 0 and 3.

• 3 indicates that you believe you have addressed all discrepancies between the given solution and your solution, in such a way as to demonstrate your complete understanding of the situation.

• 2 indicates that you believe you addressed most of the discrepancies between the given solution and your solution but are unsure of some aspects of the situation; you would at this point consider including a question or a statement of what you're not sure you understand

• 1 indicates that you believe you understand the overall idea of the solution but have not been able to address the specifics of the discrepancies between your solution and the given solution; in this case you would normally include a question or a statement of what you're not sure you understand

• 0 indicates that you don't understand the given solution, and/or can't make a reasonable judgement about whether or not your solution is correct; in this case you would be expected to address the given solution phrase-by-phrase and state what you do and do not understand about each phrase)

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Question: `q002. If you work 12 hours and earn $168, then at what rate, in dollars / hour, were you making money?

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Your solution: (type in your solution starting in the next line)

168 divided by 12 hours = 14 dollars per hour

confidence rating #$&*:

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Your Confidence Rating should be entered on the line above, after the colon at the end of the prompt.

Your Confidence Rating is a number from 0 to 3, which is to indicate your level of confidence in your solution.

3 means you are at least 90% confident of your solution, or that you are confident you got at least 90% of the solution

2 means that you are more that 50% confident of your solution, or that you are confident you got at least 50% of the solution

1 means that you think you probably got at least some of the solution correct but don't think you got the whole thing

0 means that you're pretty sure you didn't get anything right)

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Given Solution: $168 earned in 12 hours implies that $168 / 12 = $14 were made per hour, so the rate is $14 / hour.

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Self-critique (if necessary): If you are sure your solution matches the given solution, and/or are sure you completely understand the given solution, then just type in 'OK'.

Note that your instructor scans your document for questions and indications that you are having difficulty, usually beginning with your self-critique.

• If no self-critique is present, your instructor assumes you understand the solution to your satisfaction and do not need additional information or assistance.

Insert your 'OK' or your self-critique, as appropriate, starting in the next line:

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Self-critique Rating: OK

Your self-critique rating should be entered on the line above, after the colon at the end of the prompt.

Your self-critique rating is a number from 0 to 3, which is to indicate your level of confidence in your solution.

(If you believe your solution matches the given solution then just type in 'OK'.

Otherwise evaluate the quality of your self-critique by typing in a number between 0 and 3.

• 3 indicates that you believe you have addressed all discrepancies between the given solution and your solution, in such a way as to demonstrate your complete understanding of the situation.

Here are the remaining ten questions:

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Question: `q003. If you are earning 8 dollars / hour, how long will it take you to earn $72? The answer may well be obvious, but explain as best you can how you reasoned out your result.

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Your solution: (type in your solution starting in the next line)

9*8=72

9 Hours of work at 8 dollars per hour would be 72 dollars.

confidence rating #$&*:

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Your Confidence Rating should be entered on the line above, after the colon at the end of the prompt.

Your Confidence Rating is a number from 0 to 3, which is to indicate your level of confidence in your solution.

3 indicates that you believe you have addressed all discrepancies between the given solution and your solution, in such a way as to demonstrate your complete understanding of the situation.

2 indicates that you believe you addressed most of the discrepancies between the given solution and your solution but are unsure of some aspects of the situation; you would at this point consider including a question or a statement of what you're not sure you understand

1 indicates that you believe you understand the overall idea of the solution but have not been able to address the specifics of the discrepancies between your solution and the given solution; in this case you would normally include a question or a statement of what you're not sure you understand

0 indicates that you don't understand the given solution, and/or can't make a reasonable judgement about whether or not your solution is correct; in this case you would be expected to address the given solution phrase-by-phrase and state what you do and do not understand about each phrase)

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Given Solution: Many students simply know, at the level of common sense, that if we divide $72 by $8 / hour we get 9 hours, so 9 hours are required.

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Self-critique (if necessary): If you are sure your solution matches the given solution, and/or are sure you completely understand the given solution, then just type in 'OK'.

Note that your instructor scans your document for questions and indications that you are having difficulty, usually beginning with your self-critique.

• If no self-critique is present, your instructor assumes you understand the solution to your satisfaction and do not need additional information or assistance.

Insert your 'OK' or your self-critique, as appropriate, starting in the next line:

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Self-critique Rating: OK

Your self-critique rating should be entered on the line above, after the colon at the end of the prompt.

Your self-critique rating is a number from 0 to 3, which is to indicate your level of confidence in your solution.

(If you believe your solution matches the given solution then just type in 'OK'.

Otherwise evaluate the quality of your self-critique by typing in a number between 0 and 3.

• 3 indicates that you believe you have addressed all discrepancies between the given solution and your solution, in such a way as to demonstrate your complete understanding of the situation.

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Question: `q004. Calculate (8 + 3) * 5 and 8 + 3 * 5, indicating the order of your steps. Explain, as best you can, the reasons for the difference in your results.

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Your solution: (type in your solution starting in the next line)

8+3=11

11*5=55

3*5=15

15+8=23

confidence rating #$&*:

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Your Confidence Rating should be entered on the line above, after the colon at the end of the prompt.

Your Confidence Rating is a number from 0 to 3, which is to indicate your level of confidence in your solution.

3 means you are at least 90% confident of your solution, or that you are confident you got at least 90% of the solution

2 means that you are more that 50% confident of your solution, or that you are confident you got at least 50% of the solution

1 means that you think you probably got at least some of the solution correct but don't think you got the whole thing

0 means that you're pretty sure you didn't get anything right)

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Given Solution: (8 + 3) * 5 and 8 + 3 * 5

To evaluate (8 + 3) * 5, you will first do the calculation in parentheses. 8 + 3 = 11, so

(8 + 3) * 5 = 11 * 5 = 55.

To evaluate 8 + 3 * 5 you have to decide which operation to do first, 8 + 3 or 3 * 5. You should be familiar with the order of operations, which tells you that multiplication precedes addition. The first calculation to do is therefore 3 * 5, which is equal to 15. Thus

8 + 3 * 5 = 8 + 15 = 23

The results are different because the grouping in the first expression dictates that the addition be done first.

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Self-critique (if necessary): If you are sure your solution matches the given solution, and/or are sure you completely understand the given solution, then just type in 'OK'.

Note that your instructor scans your document for questions and indications that you are having difficulty, usually beginning with your self-critique.

• If no self-critique is present, your instructor assumes you understand the solution to your satisfaction and do not need additional information or assistance.

Insert your 'OK' or your self-critique, as appropriate, starting in the next line:

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Self-critique Rating: OK

Your self-critique rating should be entered on the line above, after the colon at the end of the prompt.

Your self-critique rating is a number from 0 to 3, which is to indicate your level of confidence in your solution.

(If you believe your solution matches the given solution then just type in 'OK'.

Otherwise evaluate the quality of your self-critique by typing in a number between 0 and 3.

• 3 indicates that you believe you have addressed all discrepancies between the given solution and your solution, in such a way as to demonstrate your complete understanding of the situation.

In subsequent problems the detailed instructions that accompanied the first four problems are missing. We assume you will know to follow the same instructions in answering the remaining questions.

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Question: `q005. Calculate (2^4) * 3 and 2^(4 * 3), indicating the order of your steps. Explain, as best you can, the reasons for the difference in your results. Note that the symbol '^' indicates raising to a power. For example, 4^3 means 4 raised to the third power, which is the same as 4 * 4 * 4 = 64.

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Your solution:

2^4=16*3=48

4*3=12 2^12=4,096

confidence rating #$&*:

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Your Confidence Rating should be entered on the line above, after the colon at the end of the prompt.

Your Confidence Rating is a number from 0 to 3, which is to indicate your level of confidence in your solution.

3 means you are at least 90% confident of your solution, or that you are confident you got at least 90% of the solution

2 means that you are more that 50% confident of your solution, or that you are confident you got at least 50% of the solution

1 means that you think you probably got at least some of the solution correct but don't think you got the whole thing

0 means that you're pretty sure you didn't get anything right)

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Given Solution:

To evaluate (2^4) * 3 we first evaluate the grouped expression 2^4, which is the fourth power of 2, equal to 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 = 16. So we have

(2^4) * 3 = 16 * 3 = 48.

To evaluate 2^(4 * 3) we first do the operation inside the parentheses, obtaining 4 * 3 = 12. We therefore get

2^(4 * 3) = 2^12 = 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 = 4096.

It is easy to multiply by 2, and the powers of 2 are important, so it's appropriate to have asked you to do this problem without using a calculator. Had the exponent been much higher, or had the calculation been, say, 3^12, the calculation would have become tedious and error-prone, and the calculator would have been recommended.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

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Question: `q006. Calculate 3 * 5 - 4 * 3 ^ 2 and 3 * 5 - (4 * 3)^2 according to the standard order of operations, indicating the order of your steps. Explain, as best you can, the reasons for the difference in your results.

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Your solution:

3^2=9*4=36 3*5=15 15-36=-21

4*3=12^2=144 3*5=15 15-144=-129

confidence rating #$&*:

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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Given Solution:

To calculate 3 * 5 - 4 * 3 ^ 2, the first operation is the exponentiation operation ^.

• The two numbers involved in the exponentiation are 3 and 2; the 4 is 'attached' to the 3 by multiplication, and this multiplication can't be done until the exponentiation has been performed.

• The exponentiation operation is therefore 3^2 = 9, and the expression becomes 3 * 5 - 4 * 9.

Evaluating this expression, the multiplications 3 * 5 and 4 * 9 must be performed before the subtraction. 3 * 5 = 15 and 4 * 9 = 36 so we now have

3 * 5 - 4 * 3 ^ 2 = 3 * 5 - 4 * 9 = 15 - 36 = -21.

To calculate 3 * 5 - (4 * 3)^2 we first do the operation in parentheses, obtaining 4 * 3 = 12. Then we apply the exponentiation to get 12 ^2 = 144. Finally we multiply 3 * 5 to get 15. Putting this all together we get

3 * 5 - (4 * 3)^2 =

3 * 5 - 12^2 =

3 * 5 - 144 =

15 - 144 =

-129.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

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Self-critique Rating:OK

In the next three problems, the graphs will be of one of the basic shapes listed below. You will be asked to construct graphs for three simple functions, and determine which of the depicted graphs each of your graphs most closely resembles. At this point you won't be expected to know these terms or these graph shapes; if at some point in your course you are expected to know these things, they will be presented at that point.

Linear:

Quadratic or parabolic:

Exponential:

Odd power:

Fractional positive power:

Even negative power:

partial graph of polynomial of degree 3

more extensive graph of polynomial of degree 3

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Question: `q007. Let y = 2 x + 3. (Note: Liberal Arts Mathematics students are encouraged to do this problem, but are not required to do it).

• Evaluate y for x = -2. What is your result? In your solution explain the steps you took to get this result.

• Evaluate y for x values -1, 0, 1 and 2. Write out a copy of the table below. In your solution give the y values you obtained in your table.

x y

-2 -1

-1 1

0 3

1 5

2 7

• Sketch a graph of y vs. x on a set of coordinate axes resembling the one shown below. You may of course adjust the scale of the x or the y axis to best depict the shape of your graph.

• In your solution, describe your graph in words, and indicate which of the graphs depicted previously your graph most resembles. Explain why you chose the graph you did.

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Your solution:

It would be a straight line by plugging in the points.

confidence rating #$&*:

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Given Solution:

Two slightly different explanations are give below, one by a student and one by the instructor. Neither format is inherently better than the other.

GOOD SOLUTION BY STUDENT:

First we need to complete the table. I have added a column to the right of the table to show the calculation of “y” when we us the “x” values as given.

x y Calculation: If y = 2x + 3

-2 -1 If x = -2, then y = 2(-2)+3 = -4+3 = -1

-1 1 If x= -1, then y = 2(-1)+3 = -2+3 = 1

0 3 If x= 0, then y = 2(0)+3 = 0+3 = 3

1 5 If x= 1, then y = 2(1)+3 = 2+3 = 5

2 7 If x= 2, then y = 2(2)+3 = 4+3 = 7

Once an answer has been determined, the “y” value can be filled in. Now we have both the “x” and “y” values and we can begin our graph. The charted values continue on a straight line representing a linear function as shown above.

INSTRUCTOR'S SOLUTION:

We easily evaluate the expression:

• When x = -2, we get y = 2 x + 3 = 2 * (-2) + 3 = -4 + 3 = -1.

• When x = -1, we get y = 2 x + 3 = 2 * (-1) + 3 = -2 + 3 = 1.

• When x = 0, we get y = 2 x + 3 = 2 * (0) + 3 = 0 + 3 = 3.

• When x = 1, we get y = 2 x + 3 = 2 * (1) + 3 = 2 + 3 = 5.

• When x = 2, we get y = 2 x + 3 = 2 * (2) + 3 = 4 + 3 = 7.

Filling in the table we have

x y

-2 -1

-1 1

0 3

1 5

2 7

When we graph these points we find that they lie along a straight line.

Only one of the depicted graphs consists of a straight line, and we conclude that the appropriate graph is the one labeled 'linear'.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

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Self-critique Rating:OK

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Question: `q008. Let y = x^2 + 3. (Note: Liberal Arts Mathematics students are encouraged to do this problem, but are not required to do it).

• Evaluate y for x = -2. What is your result? In your solution explain the steps you took to get this result.

• Evaluate y for x values -1, 0, 1 and 2. Write out a copy of the table below. In your solution give the y values you obtained in your table.

x y

-2 7

-1 4

0 3

1 4

2 7

• Sketch a graph of y vs. x on a set of coordinate axes resembling the one shown below. You may of course adjust the scale of the x or the y axis to best depict the shape of your graph.

• In your solution, describe your graph in words, and indicate which of the graphs depicted previously your graph most resembles. Explain why you chose the graph you did.

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Your solution:

@&

&#Your response did not agree with the given solution in all details, and you should therefore have addressed the discrepancy with a full self-critique, detailing the discrepancy and demonstrating exactly what you do and do not understand about the parts of the given solution on which your solution didn't agree, and if necessary asking specific questions (to which I will respond).

confidence rating #$&*:

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Given Solution:

Evaluating y = x^2 + 3 at the five points:

• If x = -2 then we obtain y = x^2 + 3 = (-2)^2 + 3 = 4 + 3 = 7.

• If x = -1 then we obtain y = x^2 + 3 = (-1)^2 + 3 = ` + 3 = 4.

• If x = 0 then we obtain y = x^2 + 3 = (0)^2 + 3 = 0 + 3 = 3.

• If x = 1 then we obtain y = x^2 + 3 = (1)^2 + 3 = 1 + 3 = 4.

• If x = 2 then we obtain y = x^2 + 3 = (2)^2 + 3 = 4 + 3 = 7.

The table becomes

x y

-2 7

-1 4

0 3

1 4

2 7

We note that there is a symmetry to the y values. The lowest y value is 3, and whether we move up or down the y column from the value 3, we find the same numbers (i.e., if we move 1 space up from the value 3 the y value is 4, and if we move one space down we again encounter 4; if we move two spaces in either direction from the value 3, we find the value 7).

A graph of y vs. x has its lowest point at (0, 3).

If we move from this point, 1 unit to the right our graph rises 1 unit, to (1, 4), and if we move 1 unit to the left of our 'low point' the graph rises 1 unit, to (-1, 4).

If we move 2 units to the right or the left from our 'low point', the graph rises 4 units, to (2, 7) on the right, and to (-2, 7) on the left.

Thus as we move from our 'low point' the graph rises up, becoming increasingly steep, and the behavior is the same whether we move to the left or right of our 'low point'. This reflects the symmetry we observed in the table. So our graph will have a right-left symmetry.

Two of the depicted graphs curve upward away from the 'low point'. One is the graph labeled 'quadratic or parabolic'. The other is the graph labeled 'partial graph of degree 3 polynomial'.

If we look closely at these graphs, we find that only the first has the right-left symmetry, so the appropriate graph is the 'quadratic or parabolic' graph.

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Self-critique (if necessary):

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Self-critique Rating:OK