Graphing piecewise functions involves breaking the function into different pieces, each with its own equation. These pieces are defined over different intervals of the independent variable, and the graph of the function is the union of the graphs of the individual pieces.
Piecewise functions are often used to model situations where the relationship between the independent and dependent variables changes at specific points. For example, a piecewise function could be used to model the cost of shipping a package, where the cost is different depending on the weight of the package. Piecewise functions can also be used to model functions that are defined over different domains, such as the function that gives the area of a circle, which is defined over the domain of all positive numbers.
