My question is in problem 2 under algebra 2, additional topics, and then step functions. Why does he move the point back one and not forward one because it is positive?

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y = [ x + 1] If you set what lies inside the brackets to = 0 and solve for x, you will get x = -1. This creates the point (-1, 0). At that point, we begin the step function graph process 3 unit down on the y-axis because of the -3 outside the brackets. We dark in the point (-1, 0) and draw a line from that point going to the right exactly 1 unit repeating the same process making a picture that looks like stairs. The opposite idea is also true. The -3 on the outside of the brackets, tells us to bring the entire function down 3 units on the y-axis. The opposite applies for positive numbers outside the brackets.