Average Rate of Change of a Function

Enter a function f(x). Move the points a and b along the x-axis to define your interval [a,b]. Note the average rate of change of f over your interval; is it positive or negative, what is the function doing over the interval? Does the average rate of change approximate the behavior of the function well over your interval? To change the viewing window, hold the shift button and left-click to drag the graph or use the scroll wheel to zoom in/out. You can also adjust the axes by holding the shift button and left-click on the axis you want to change.