What does “x as a function of y” really mean?

Question

I learned functions just purely as a mathematical concept, but I realised as I studied physics along with it, that it is actually a fundamental concept in the world. But I never really understood the phrase. For example, ‘velocity as a function of time’, yes I get that this would mean a v=tx form of graph, but what does it actually *mean*? Thank you

Edit: I made a mistake previously. I accidentally said ‘time as a function of velocity’

In: Mathematics

Answer 1

‘time as a function of velocity’ is backward. It should be ‘velocity as a function of time’. What that means is, you have an equations where time is the variable and will tell you what the velocity is at any given time. With that knowledge, you could also plot position as a function of time. With these two things, you could tell the position and speed of the object over time.