When writing functions, we normally write it in a way whereby the dependent variable would be on the left side of the equation and the independent variable would be on the right side of the equation.[br][br]Taking the previous example of the amount of fuel consumed in metric tons is 0.05 per nautical mile the ship traveled. Designating the amount of fuel consumed as [math]y[/math] and distanced traveled by the ship as [math]d[/math], we can write the equation as: [math]y=0.05d[/math]