LESSON 1 :

ANALYZING GRAPHS OF FUNCTIONS and

LIBRARY OF PARENT FUNCTIONS
 Expected Learning Outcomes
1. Use the Vertical Line Test for functions.
2. Find the zeros of functions.
3. Determine intervals on which functions are
increasing or decreasing and determine relative
maximum and relative minimum values of
functions.
4. Determine the average rate of change of a
function.
5. Identify even and odd functions.
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 Expected Learning Outcomes
6. Identify and graph linear and squaring
functions.
7. Identify and graph cubic, square root, and
reciprocal function.
8. Identify and graph step and other
piecewise-defined functions.
9. Recognize graphs of parent functions.

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The Graph of a Function
We have studied functions from an algebraic point of view.
In this section, you will study functions from a graphical
perspective.

The graph of a function f is the collection of ordered

pairs (x, f (x)) such that x is in the domain of f.

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The Graph of a Function
As you study this section, remember that
x = the directed distance from the y-axis
y = f (x) = the directed distance from the x-axis
as shown in Figure 2.25

Figure 2.25
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Example 1 – Finding the Domain and Range of a Function

Use the graph of the function f, shown in Figure 2.26, to

find

(a) the domain of f,

(b) the function values f (–1)
and f (2), and
(c) the range of f.

Figure 2.26

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Example 1 – Solution
a. The closed dot at (–1, 1) indicates that x = –1 is in the
domain of f, whereas the open dot at (5, 2) indicates that
x = 5 is not in the domain.
So, the domain of f is all x in the interval [–1, 5).

b. Because (–1, 1) is a point on the graph of f, it follows that

f (–1) = 1. Similarly, because (2, –3) is a point on the
graph of f, it follows that f (2) = –3.

c. Because the graph does not extend below f (2) = –3 or

above f (0) = 3, the range of f is the interval [–3, 3].

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The Graph of a Function
The use of dots (open or closed) at the extreme left and
right points of a graph indicates that the graph does not
extend beyond these points.

If no such dots are shown, assume that the graph extends

beyond these points.

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The Graph of a Function
By the definition of a function, at most one y-value
corresponds to a given x-value.

This means that the graph of a function cannot have two or

more different points with the same x-coordinate, and no
two points on the graph of a function can be vertically
above or below each other.

It follows, then, that a vertical line can intersect the graph of

a function at most once.

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The Graph of a Function
This observation provides a convenient visual test called
the Vertical Line Test for functions.

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 Zeros of a Function
If the graph of a function of x has an x-intercept at (a, 0),
then a is a zero of the function.

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Example 3 – Finding the Zeros of a Function

Find the zeros of each function.

a. f (x) = 3x2 + x – 10 b. g(x) = c. h(t) =

Solution:
To find the zeros of a function, set the function equal to
zero and solve for the independent variable.
a. 3x2 + x – 10 = 0 Set f (x) equal to 0.

(3x – 5)(x + 2) = 0 Factor.

3x – 5 = 0 x= Set 1st factor equal to 0.

x+2=0 x = –2 Set 2nd factor equal to 0.

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Example 3 – Solution cont’d

The zeros of f are x = and x = –2. In Figure 2.28, note

that the graph of f has ( , 0) and (–2, 0) as its x-intercepts.

Zeros of f : x = –2, x =
Figure 2.28

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Example 3 – Solution cont’d

b. =0 Set g(x) equal to 0.

10 – x2 = 0 Square each side.

10 = x2 Add x2 to each side.

 =x Extract square roots.

The zeros of g are x = –

and x = . In Figure 2.29,
note that the graph of g has
(– , 0) and ( , 0) as
its x-intercepts.
Zeros of g: x = 
Figure 2.29 14
Example 3 – Solution cont’d

c. =0 Set h(t) equal to 0.

2t – 3 = 0 Multiply each side by t + 5

2t = 3 Add 3 to each side.

t= Divide each side by 2.

The zero of h is t = . In Figure 2.30,

note that the graph of h has ( , 0)
as its t -intercept.

Zero of h: t =
Figure 2.30 15
Increasing and Decreasing Functions

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Increasing and Decreasing Functions
The more you know about the graph of a function, the more
you know about the function itself. Consider the graph
shown in Figure 2.31.

As you move from left to right, this

graph falls from x = –2 to x = 0, is
constant from x = 0 to x = 2, and
rises from x = 2 to x = 4.

Figure 2.31

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Increasing and Decreasing Functions

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Example 4 – Increasing and Decreasing Functions

Use the graphs in Figure 2.32 to describe the increasing or

decreasing behavior of each function.

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 2.32

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Example 4 – Solution
a. This function is increasing over the entire real line.

b. This function is increasing on the interval (– , –1),

decreasing on the interval (–1, 1)and increasing on the
interval (1, ).

c. This function is increasing on the interval (– , 0),

constant on the interval (0, 2), and decreasing on the
interval (2, ).

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Increasing and Decreasing Functions
To help you decide whether a function is increasing,
decreasing, or constant on an interval, you can evaluate
the function for several values of x.

However, calculus is needed to determine, for certain, all

intervals on which a function is increasing, decreasing, or
constant.

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Increasing and Decreasing Functions
The points at which a function changes its increasing,
decreasing, or constant behavior are helpful in determining
the relative minimum or relative maximum values of the
function.

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Increasing and Decreasing Functions
Figure 2.33 shows several different examples of relative
minima and relative maxima.

Figure 2.33

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Increasing and Decreasing Functions
We will study a technique for finding the exact point at
which a second-degree polynomial function has a relative
minimum or relative maximum.

For the time being, however, you can use a graphing utility
to find reasonable approximations of these points.

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Average Rate of Change
We have learned that the slope of a line can be interpreted
as a rate of change.

For a nonlinear graph whose

slope changes at each point,
the average rate of change
between any two points
(x1, f (x1)) and (x2, f (x2)) is the
slope of the line through the
two points (see Figure 2.35).
Figure 2.35
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Average Rate of Change
The line through the two points is called the secant line,
and the slope of this line is denoted as msec.

Average rate of change of f from x1 to x2 =

= msec

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Example 6 – Average Rate of Change of a Function

Find the average rates of change of f (x) = x3 – 3x

(a) from x1 = –2 to x2 = 0 and
(b) from x1 = 0 to x2 = 1 (see Figure 2.36).

Figure 2.36

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Example 6(a) – Solution
The average rate of change of f from x1 = –2 to x2 = 0 is

Secant line has positive slope.

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Example 6(b) – Solution cont’d

The average rate of change of f from x1 = 0 to x2 = 1 is

Secant line has negative slope.

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Even and Odd Functions
We have studied different types of symmetry of a graph. In
the terminology of functions, a function is said to be even if
its graph is symmetric with respect to the y-axis and to be
odd if its graph is symmetric with respect to the origin.

The symmetry tests yield the following tests for even and
odd functions.

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Example 8 – Even and Odd Functions

a. The function g(x) = x3 – x is odd because g(–x) = –g(x),

as follows.

g(–x) = (–x)3 – (–x) Substitute –x for x.

= –x3 + x Simplify.

= –(x3 – x) Distributive Property

= – g(x) Test for odd function

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Example 8 – Even and Odd Functions cont’d

b. The function h(x) = x2 + 1 is even because h(–x) = h(x),

as follows.

h(–x) = (–x)2 + 1 Substitute –x for x.

= x2 + 1 Simplify.

= h(x) Test for even function

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Example 8 – Even and Odd Functions cont’d

The graphs and symmetry of these two functions are shown

in Figure 2.37.

(a) Symmetric to origin: Odd Function (b) Symmetric to y-axis: Even Function

Figure 2.37
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Linear and Squaring Functions
One of the goals of this session is to enable you to
recognize the basic shapes of the graphs of different types
of functions.

For instance, you know that the graph of the linear

function f (x) = ax + b is a line with slope m = a and
y-intercept at (0, b).

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 Linear and Squaring Functions
The graph of the linear function has the following
characteristics.

• The domain of the function is the set of all real numbers.

• The range of the function is the set of all real numbers.
• The graph has an x-intercept of (–b/m, 0) and
a y-intercept of (0, b).
• The graph is increasing if m  0, decreasing if m  0,
and constant if m = 0.

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Example 1 – Writing a Linear Function
Write the linear function f for which f (1) = 3 and f (4) = 0.

Solution:
To find the equation of the line that passes through
(x1, y1) = (1, 3) and (x2, y2) = (4, 0) first find the slope
of the line.

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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

Next, use the point-slope form of the equation of a line.

y – y1 = m(x – x1) Point-slope form

y – 3 = –1(x – 1) Substitute for x1, y1 and m

y = –x + 4 Simplify.

f (x) = –x + 4 Function notation

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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

The graph of this function is shown in Figure 2.38.

Figure 2.38

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Linear and Squaring Functions
There are two special types of linear functions, the
constant function and the identity function.

A constant function has the form

f (x) = c
and has the domain of all real numbers with a range
consisting of a single real number c.

The graph of a constant function is

a horizontal line, as shown in
Figure 2.39. The identity function
has the form f (x) = x.
Figure 2.39
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 Linear and Squaring Functions
Its domain and range are the set of all real numbers. The
identity function has a slope of m = 1 and a y-intercept at
(0, 0).
The graph of the identity function is a line for which each
x-coordinate equals the corresponding y-coordinate. The
graph is always increasing, as shown in Figure 2.40.

Figure 2.40
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Linear and Squaring Functions
The graph of the squaring function
f (x) = x2
is a U-shaped curve with the following characteristics.
• The domain of the function is the set of all real numbers.

• The range of the function is the set of all nonnegative

real numbers.

• The function is even.

• The graph has an intercept at (0, 0).

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Linear and Squaring Functions
• The graph is decreasing on the interval ( , 0) and
increasing on the interval (0, )
• The graph is symmetric with respect to the y-axis.
• The graph has a relative minimum at (0, 0).
The graph of the squaring function is shown in Figure 2.41.

Figure 2.41
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Cubic, Square Root, and Reciprocal Functions

The basic characteristics of the graphs of the cubic,

square root, and reciprocal functions are summarized
below.

1. The graph of the cubic function f (x) = x3 has the following

characteristics.
• The domain of the function is the set of all real
numbers.
• The range of the function is the set of all real
numbers.
• The function is odd.
• The graph has an intercept at (0, 0).
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Cubic, Square Root, and Reciprocal Functions

• The graph is increasing on the interval ( , ).

• The graph is symmetric with respect to the origin.

The graph of the cubic function is shown in Figure 2.42.

Cubic function
Figure 2.42
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Cubic, Square Root, and Reciprocal Functions

2. The graph of the square root function f (x) = has the

following characteristics.
• The domain of the function is the set of all nonnegative
real numbers.

• The range of the function is the set of all nonnegative

real numbers.

• The graph has an intercept at (0, 0).

• The graph is increasing on the interval (0, )

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Cubic, Square Root, and Reciprocal Functions

The graph of the square root function is shown in Figure 2.43.

Square root function

Figure 2.43

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Cubic, Square Root, and Reciprocal Functions

3. The graph of the reciprocal function f (x) = has the

following characteristics.
• The domain of the function is( , 0)  (0, )

• The range of the function is ( , 0)  (0, )

• The function is odd.

• The graph does not have any intercepts.

• The graph is decreasing on the intervals

( , 0) and (0, ).

• The graph is symmetric with respect to the origin.

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Cubic, Square Root, and Reciprocal Functions

The graph of the reciprocal function is shown in Figure 2.44.

Reciprocal function
Figure 2.44

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Step and Piecewise-Defined Functions
Functions whose graphs resemble sets of stairsteps are
known as step functions.

The most famous of the step functions is the

greatest integer function, which is denoted by and
defined as

f (x) = = the greatest integer less than or equal to x.

Some values of the greatest integer function are as follows.

= (greatest integer  –1) = –1

= (greatest integer  ) = –1

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Step and Piecewise-Defined Functions
= (greatest integer  )=0

= (greatest integer  1.5) = 1

The graph of the greatest integer function

f (x) =

has the following characteristics,

as shown in Figure 2.45.
• The domain of the function
is the set of all real numbers.

Figure 2.45
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Step and Piecewise-Defined Functions
• The range of the function is the set of all integers.

• The graph has a y-intercept at (0, 0) and x-intercepts in

the interval [0, 1).

• The graph is constant between each pair of consecutive

integers.

• The graph jumps vertically one unit at each integer

value.

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Example 2 – Evaluating a Step Function
Evaluate the function when x = –1, 2 and

f (x) = +1

Solution:
For x = –1, the greatest integer  –1 is –1, so

f (–1) = +1

= –1 + 1

=0

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Example 2 – Solution cont’d

For x = 2, the greatest integer  2 is 2, so

f (2) = +1

=2+1

= 3.

For x = , the greatest integer  is 1, so

=1+1

=2
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Example 2 – Solution cont’d

You can verify your answers by examining the graph of

f (x) = + 1 shown in Figure 2.46.

Figure 2.46

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 Parent Functions
The eight graphs shown in Figure 2.48 represent the most
commonly used functions in algebra.

(a) Constant Function (b) Identity Function (c) Absolute Value (d) Square
Function Root
Function
Figure 2.48

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 Parent Functions cont’d

(e) Quadratic (f) Cubic (g) Reciprocal (h) Greatest

Function Function Function Integer
Figure 2.48
Function

Familiarity with the basic characteristics of these simple

graphs will help you analyze the shapes of more
complicated graphs—in particular, graphs obtained from
these graphs by the rigid and non-rigid transformations.
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 Challenge Problems !
1. Determine if y = x² + 2 is a function or not. Justify your
answer.
2. Find all zeroes of the polynomial h(x) = 2x⁴-32.
3. Graph f(x) = x³ - 8 and determine intervals where the
function is increasing and decreasing.
4. Determine if g(x) = x³ + x² - x +2 is odd, even or neither.
5. Name the parent function of the following:
a) f(x) = |x-2| + 3
b) g(x) =(x+3)² -5
c) h(x) = x³ - 6

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