- Mess around with the applet. (This is the most important step)
- Consider the white curve, the graph of a fifth degree polynomial. What does changing the constant term, the x^0 term, do?
- What is the difference between changing a term of odd degree (x^1, x^3, x^5) and changing a term of even degree (x^2,x^4)
- If you followed step (1), you would have wound up with a red curve on the same axis as the white. Observe where the red curve crosses the x axis as you change the parameters. What relationship do the x-intercepts of the red curve have to the white curve?
- What effect does changing the constant term have on the red curve?