An introduction into Variation

​When you start studying algebra, you will also study how two (or more) variables can relate to each other specifically. The cases you’ll study are:

Direct Variation , where both variables either increase or decrease together

Inverse or Indirect Variation, where when one of the variables increases, the other one decreases

Joint Variation , where more than two variables are related directly

Combined Variation, which involves a combination of direct or joint variation, and indirect variation

These sound like a lot of fancy math words, but it’s really not too bad. Here are some examples of direct and inverse variation:

Direct : The number of dollars I make varies directly (or you can say varies proportionally) with how much I work.

Direct : The length of the side a square varies directly with the perimeter of the square.

Inverse : The number of people I invite to my bowling party varies inversely with the number of games they might get to play (or you can say is proportional to the inverse of ).

Inverse : The temperature in my house varies indirectly (same as inversely) with the amount of time the air conditioning is running.

Inverse : My GPA may vary directly inversely with the number of hours I watch TV.

P.S You got the drill? This is not to expressly treat variation but to introduce it to you. 

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