Suppose that is defined on an interval . We say that:
- is increasing on if whenever with in
- is decreasing on if whenever with in
- is constant on if whenever with in
Generally, when we ask to find where a function is increasing, we are asking for the largest intervals for which this is true. We may find several intervals where this is the case, and we consider the collection of all intervals to be the solution. The same is true regarding where a function is decreasing.