LINEARIZATION AND ERROR PROPAGATION

ENGR. MERCURY SAHIJUANIE GARGARITANO

Linear and Non-linear Functions

Linear functions use one or more variables where one variable is dependent on the other.
Almost any situation where there is an unknown quantity can be represented by a linear equation, like
figuring out income over time, calculating mileage rates, or predicting profit.
Many people use linear equations every day, even if they do the calculations in their head without
drawing a line graph.

Variable Costs
Imagine that you are taking a taxi while on vacation. You know that the taxi service charges $9 to pick
your family up from your hotel and another $0.15 per mile for the trip.
Without knowing how many miles it will be to each destination, you can set up a linear equation that
can be used to find the cost of any taxi trip you take on your trip.

Rates
Linear equations can be a useful tool for comparing rates of pay. For example, if one company offers to
pay you $450 per week and the other offers $10 per hour,
and both ask you to work 40 hours per week, which company is offering the better rate of pay?

Budgeting
A party planner has a limited budget for an upcoming event. She'll need to figure out how much it will
cost her client to rent a space and pay per person for meals.
If the cost of the rental space is $780 and the price per person for food is $9.75

Making Predictions
One of the most helpful ways to apply linear equations in everyday life is to make predictions about
what will happen in the future.
If a bake sale committee spends $200 in initial startup costs and then earns $150 per month in sales

Nonlinear functions are functions that are not linear functions. Therefore, they have the opposite
properties of a linear function. The graph of a linear function is a line. Thus, the graph of a nonlinear
function is not a line. Linear functions have a constant slope, so nonlinear functions have a slope that
varies between points. Algebraically, linear functions are polynomials with highest exponent equal to 1
or of the form y = c where c is constant. Nonlinear functions are all other functions.

x2 + y2 + Dx + Ey + F = 0
s = v₀t + (1/2)gt²