Talk:Linear function: Difference between revisions

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== (Guidance from :fr:) ==

I found a different definition for a linear function in the French Wikipedia. It says that a linear function (fonction linéaire) is a function of the form f(x)=ax (necessarily passes through the zero).

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: Arie Finkelstein

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<s><small><span class="autosigned">—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:147.215.1.189|147.215.1.189]] ([[User talk:147.215.1.189|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/147.215.1.189|contribs]]) </span></small><!-- Template:Unsigned --></s>

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Thanks for your help Jerzy. I took out a lot of the stuff that doesn't actually apply to linear functions. The article is pretty thin right now but at least it isn't wrong anymore. A lot of schools gloss over the actual definition of linearity, but that doesn't mean Wikipedia should too. When I started working on this I read your comment but I didn't realize you had made it so recently. If there is a disambiguation page I think it should note that y = mx + b is not strictly a linear function. The other articles on linear functions also need cleanup. [[User:Marcusyoder|Marcusyoder]] ([[User talk:Marcusyoder|talk]]) 17:02, 26 August 2012 (UTC)

:Though the article is now clear on two distinct concepts for which the phrase "linear function" is used, having them both in the same article violates what I thought was a [[WP:MOS]] guideline, but I'm having difficulty locating the guideline. Nevertheless, this article simply does not work adequately for the link [[linear function]], since in the context of the link, invariably only one of the two meanings is intended, and landing here will confuse the reader by forcing them to grapple with the other meaning to disambiguate the intended meaning. —[[User_talk:Quondum|''Quondum'']] 15:01, 13 March 2014 (UTC)

== I am confused? ==

The beginning of this article introduces the calculus version of a linear function as a polynomial of degree one or zero. But we were told back in High School Algebra that x = 5 is not a function, although it is a polynomial that fits in this description. Are linear equations the same thing as linear functions or are people confusing these vocabulary terms? And I thought that the first definition of a linear function contradicts the Calculus definition of a linear function since for example: if f(x) = 3x + 5 then since f(u+v) does not equal (3u+5)+(3v+5) so the function is not linear and what about transforms? <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">— Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/2601:E:CE80:543:1976:B4B1:C2E7:D594|2601:E:CE80:543:1976:B4B1:C2E7:D594]] ([[User talk:2601:E:CE80:543:1976:B4B1:C2E7:D594|talk]]) 02:02, 6 July 2014 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:Unsigned IP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->

:The two uses of the term "linear function" are quite distinct, and you should take care not to confuse them. And presumably you meant to write {{nowrap|1=''f''(''x'') = 5}}, which is a function: the [[constant function]]. The first definition ''is'' the calculus definition, but you seem to be thinking of the second definition. Can you suggest a way of presenting this which makes the distinction between the two uses of the term ''linear function'' clearer? —[[User_talk:Quondum|Quondum]] 02:44, 6 July 2014 (UTC)