what are piecewise defined functions?
A piecewise function is a function built from pieces of different functions over different intervals. For example, we can make a piecewise function f(x) where f(x) = -9 when -9 < x ≤ -5, f(x) = 6 when -5 < x ≤ -1, and f(x) = -7 when -1 <x ≤ 9.