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College Algebra / Unit 5   Alg 242 short lesson, about 20 seconds

The Vertical Line Test

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The idea

The vertical line test reads a graph: if any vertical line crosses the graph more than once, the graph is not a function.

In practice

The graph of x = y² contains (4, 2) and (4, −2); the vertical line x = 4 hits both, so one input claims two outputs.

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