Graphs of Functions

Objectives
At the end of this session, you will be able to:
• sketch the graph of some basic functions
• state the domain and range of each function
Graphing a Function

The graph of a function f.

The domain of f consists of
all x values at which the
function is defined, and the
range consists of all
possible values f can have.
Linear Functions

A straight line and its slope. The line is the graph of f(x) = mx + n. It intersects the y-axis at
height n, and the ratio between the amounts by which y and x increase as you move from one
point to another on the line is y1- y0 / x1 - x0 = m:
Vertical Line Test
• If no two different points in a graph have the same first coordinate, this
means that vertical lines cross the graph at most once
• Graphs that pass the vertical line test are graphs of functions
• A curve in the xy-plane is the graph of y = f(x) for some function f if and
only if no vertical line intercepts the curve more than once
Horizontal Line Test
• If no two different points in a graph have the same second coordinate, this
means that horizontal lines cross the graph at most once
• Functions whose graphs pass the horizontal line test are called one-to-one
• A curve in the xy-plane is the graph of x = f(y) for some function f if and only if
no horizontal line intercepts the curve more than once
One-to-One Functions
• Graphs that pass both the vertical line and horizontal line tests are one-to-
one functions
• Functions whose inverse relation is also a function
• One-to-one functions have an inverse
Examples

Function, not one-to-one Not a function

One-to-one function One-to-one function

Graphs of Functions
• The six basic functions are:
Graphs of Functions
1.
Remember y = f(x) = x.

Domain: (-∞, ∞)
Range: (-∞, ∞)
Graphs of Functions
2.
Remember y = f(x) = x2.

Domain: (-∞, ∞)
Range: [0, ∞)
Graphs of Functions
3.
Remember y = f(x) = x3.

Domain: (-∞, ∞)
Range: (-∞, ∞)
Graphs of Functions
4.
Remember y = f(x) = √x.
Graphs of Functions

Domain: [0, ∞)
Range: [0, ∞)
Graphs of Functions
5.

Remember y = f(x) = |x|.

Graphs of Functions

Domain: (-∞, ∞)
Range: [0, ∞)
Graphs of Functions
6.
Remember y = f(x) = 1/x
Graphs of Functions

Domain: (-∞, 0) U (0,

∞)
Range: (-∞, 0) U (0, ∞)
Examples
• Example 1

Graph .
Solution
• a line in the slope intercept form y = mx + b
• y intercept of (0,b) and a slope of m
• recall that slope as m = rise/run
• slope is negative: rise = fall
• slope allows us to get a second point on the line
• second point on the line
• move right by run and up/down by rise depending on the sign
Solution
• (0,3) is a point on the line and the slope is -2/5
• starting at (0,3), move 5 to the right (0 to 5) and down 2 (3 to 1) to get (5,1) as a
second point on the line
• plot the two points and connect them with a line
Solution
Example
• Example 2

Graph .
Solution
• a parabola in the general form of

• the x-coordinate is

• y-coordinate is

• coordinates of the vertex

V (1,4)
Solution
• determine which direction the parabola opens from the sign of a
• if a is positive the parabola opens up
• if a is negative the parabola opens down
• vertex is above the x -axis and the parabola opens down
• f(x) = 0;
Solution
• f(x) = 0

• x-intercepts at x=-1 and x=3

• multiplied everything by -1 to get the coefficient of the positive
Solution
Example
• Example 3

Graph .
Solution
• complete the square on both the x and the y

• Standard form of a circle:

Solution
• When circles are in this form center : (h, k) and radius : r
• graph the circle simply by starting at the center and moving right, left, up
and down by r to get the rightmost, leftmost, top most and bottom most
points respectively
• center at (-1, 4) and a radius of 3
Solution
Example
• Example 4

Graph .
Solution
• an ellipse with a standard form of

• ellipse with center (h, k)

• right most and left most points are a distance of a away from the center
• top most and bottom most points are a distance of b away from the center
Solution
• center (2, -2); a= 3 and b=1/2
• rewrite the equation to get b to get it into standard from
Solution
Example
• Example 5

Graph .
Solution

• a hyperbola
• two standard forms for
a hyperbola
Solution
• the hyperbola will open left and right
• center is (-1, 2)
• two vertices are (-4, 2) and (2, 2)
• the asymptotes will have slopes ±2/3
Solution
Example
• Example 6

Graph .
Solution
Example
• Example 7

Graph f(x) = ln (x).

Solution

• ln x → ∞ as x → ∞
• ln x → - ∞ as x → 0, x > 0
Example
• Example 8

Graph y = cos (x).

Solution
• graph for -4π ≤ x ≤ 4π
Example
• Example 9

Graph y = sin (x).

Solution
Example
• Example 10

Graph y = tan (x).

Solution
• tangent doesn’t exist wherever cosine is zero
• tangent will not exist at

• the graph will have asymptotes at these points

Solution

• graph of tangent on the

range
Example
• Example 11

Graph y = sec (x).

Solution
• secant doesn’t exist wherever cosine is zero
• secant will not exist at

• the graph will have asymptotes at these points

Solution

• graph of secant on the

range
Summary
• Make a table of ordered pairs that satisfy f(x) to graph basic functions
• Use the general or standard forms of the equation to sketch other common
functions (i.e., line, parabola, circle, ellipse, and hyperbola)
• Use the respective properties to graph natural logarithm and trigonometric
functions