Analyzing Function Graphs

“Imagine a graph represents the profit of a company over a year. How would identifying the x-intercepts (if any) of this graph be useful for understanding the company's financial performance? Suppose a graph represents the speed of a car over a period of time. Without seeing the graph, explain how you would determine when the car was accelerating (speeding up) based on the concepts of increasing and decreasing functions. Think of a graph that represents the height of a ball thrown into the air. How would you identify the relative maximum on this graph, and what would that point represent in terms of the ball's trajectory?”