Vertical line test

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The vertical line test, shown graphically.

In mathematics, the vertical line test is a test to determine if a curve is a relation or graph of a
function when the function's domain and codomain correspond to the x and y axes of the
Cartesian coordinate system. As a relation or graph of a function can only have one output for
each unique input, such a Cartesian representation of the function can have at most a single y
value for each x value. Thus, a vertical line drawn at any x position on the graph of a function
will intersect the graph at most once.[1]

To use the vertical line test graphically, take a ruler or other "vertical line" and move it from one
end of the x-axis to the other while keeping it parallel to the y-axis.[citation needed] If the graph
intersects the ruler or vertical line more than once at any given value of x, the graph is not a
Euclidean function. However, if the graph intersects the vertical line no more than once at any
given point, it is a function. The Vertical Line Test can also be referred to as The Split Banana
Test

Notes
1. ^ Stewart, James (2001). Calculus: Concepts and Contexts (2nd ed.). Pacific Grove:
Brooks/Cole. p. 17. ISBN 9780534377182. "The Vertical Line Test: A curve in the xy-plane is
the graph of a function of x if and only if no vertical line intersects the curve more than once."

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