Graphs of Functions - Section 4 - Functions and Graphs - MathTrackX - Polynomials, Functions and Graphs - Edx
Graphs of Functions - Section 4 - Functions and Graphs - MathTrackX - Polynomials, Functions and Graphs - Edx
Multiplying by a positive with makes the graph stretch upwards away from the -axis.
Multiplying by a positive with makes the graph shrink downwards towards the -axis.
The reason why this happens is that after calculating the -value every time, we multiply by the value
of , which changes the -value to be higher or lower depending on . This is true of any function
when you multiply its formula by a constant.
This interactive graph shows and . Change the value of . Look at what
happens to the graph.
Adding makes the graph move upwards by , and if is negative then then the graph moves down.
This is because after we’ve calculated the -value, we add every time to the result, so all the -
values are higher (or lower if is negative). This is true of any function when you add a constant to
its formula.
Replacing the with makes the graph move minus along the -axis. This is because at the
position on the -axis, the -value is now , which used to be at the position on the
-axis. That means the height from that point further along moves back to be in the new position.
Replacing with makes the graph move plus along the -axis for similar reasons.
This is true for any graph. Replacing with moves the graph along the -axis.
Replacing the with , for , makes the graph shrink inwards towards the -axis. This is
because at the position on the -axis, the -value is now , which used to be at position
on the -axis. So the height from that point moves inwards to be at the new position.
Replacing the with , for positive , makes the graph stretch outwards away from the -axis.
Again this is because at the position on the -axis, the -value is now , which used to be at
position . So the height from that point moves outwards to be at the new position.
This is true for any graph. Replacing with always shrinks or stretches the graph along the -
axis, depending on whether is more or less than .
Summary
These tables summarise all the changes to the function’s formula and what effect they have on the
graph.
Function (note is positive in these Change in the graph from the Picture of graph
formulas) original
Original function.
Doing an operation after the original formula:
Function (note is positive in these Change in the graph from the original Picture of graph
formulas)
Reflected across the -axis.
Moved upwards by .
Moved downwards by .
These transformations can be put together one after the other to make complicated changes to the
graph. It’s important to remember that the -direction changes happen when you replace with a
new expression, and the -direction changes when you perform an operation on the formula.
For example, to imagine the graph of , you can do each of these steps in turn:
STEP 3 Replace with , making the function , and so shrinking towards the
-axis by .
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