Elementary Functions; Graphs and

Transformations
• In this presentation, you will be given an equation of a
function and asked to draw its graph. You should be able
to state how the graph is related to a “standard” function.
It is not important that you plot a great many points for
each graph. It IS important that you recognize the general
shape of the graph. You can verify your answers using a
graphing calculator, but only after you have attempted to
construct the graph by hand.
 Problem 1
• Construct the graph of
Graph of

12

10
8
6 Series1

4
2
0
-4 -2 0 2 4
 Problem 3
• Now, graph the following “standard”
function: Complete the table:
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
Graph of

30

20

10

0 S e r ie s1
-4 -2 0 2 4

- 10

- 20

- 30
 Problem 5
• Graph:

• What is the domain of this function?

 Solution to problem 5
• The domain is all non-negative real
numbers. Here is the graph:
6
5
4
3 Series1
2
1
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
 Cube root function
• Sketch the graph of the cube root function. Complete the
table of ordered pairs: x y
-27
-8
-1
0
1
8
27
 Absolute Value function
• Now, graph the absolute value function. Be sure
to choose x values that are both positive and
negative as well as zero.

a( x)  x
 Graph of absolute value
function
Notice the symmetry of the graph.
Shifting in Translations
Let c be a positive real number. Then the following trans-
formations result in translations of the graph of y = f(x):
Horizontal Translations
y = f(x – c) a translation to the right by c units
y = f(x + c) a translation to the left by c units

Vertical Translations

y = f(x) + c a translation up by c units

y = f(x) – c a translation down by c units
Each figure shows the graph of the original square root
function,along with a translation function. Write an equation
for each translation.

y  x5 y  x 4 y  x 1
Solution