Lesson 8 Graph of a Function

Two-dimensional coordinate plane

Imagine that we have an infinitely large piece
of paper. We fix a point O, called an origin,
on it and draw two perpendicular number lines
through O, as shown in the figure. The
horizontal and vertical lines are called x-axis
and y-axis respectively. Any point on the
paper can be specified by coordinates two
numbers
obtained
by
perpendicular
projections from the point onto the two axes.
Number obtained from x-axis is called the
x-coordinate of the point.
Number obtained from y-axis is called the y-coordinate of the point.
Examples:
1. x-coordinate and y-coordinate of point A are both 1.
2. x-coordinate and y-coordinate of point B are -3 and -1 respectively.
Notation: A = (1, 1). B = (-3, -1).
Exercise 1:
1. C = (
,
). D = ( ,
).
2. Locate the point E = (-5, 2) and F = (1.5, -6) on the figure.

Definition: 2 = {(, )| , } is the set of all points specified by two

coordinates. Sometimes it is called the two-dimensional coordinate plane.
Remarks:
1. The idea of coordinates is extremely important because it provides a link
between geometry and algebra.
2. We can similarly define 3 to be the three-dimensional coordinate space.

Graph of a function
Given a function : . How can we represent it in a visual way?
Example: For any , let () = 2 + 1. We can consider the following table:

()

(, ())

-2

(-2, 5)

-1

(-1, 2)

(0, 1)

(1, 2)

(2, 5)

We plot those five points on the coordinate and obtain the left figure. In fact, we
can run through all and plot all points (, ()), which form a curve in the
right figure.

Definition: The set {(, ) 2 | = ()} is called the graph of .

Exercise 2: Sketch the graph of each of the following functions:
1.
2.

() = 2 + 3
() = 2 + 2 3

(Use the graph paper provided in the next page)

Graph of a linear function

Definition: Given two points = (1 , 1 ) and = (2 , 2 ).
joining A and B is
2 1
2 1

The slope of the line

It measures how steep is the line joining A and B.

Examples: Given = (2, 1), = (6,2), = (1,1), = (1, 3), as shown the figure
below:

The slope between A and B is

2(1)

The slope between C and D is

31

62

1(1)

= 4.

(Positive slope)

= 2. (Negative slope)

Fact: Three points P, Q and R are on the same straight line if the slope between P
and Q is the same as the slope of Q and R.
Example: Determine whether = (2, 1), = (6,2), = (2, 4) are on the same
straight line.

The first function in Exercise 2 is an example of linear functions.

Definition: A function : such that () = + for some , is called
a linear function.
Theorem: The graph of a linear function () = + is a straight line in 2 .
Moreover, the slope between any two distinct points on the graph is , which is
usually called the slope of the straight line.
Proof:

Exercise 3:
1. Suppose : is a linear function such that (1) = 2 and (4) = 1. Find
this function.

2. Find the function : if its graph is a straight line has slope 3 and
(2) = 4.

Graph of a quadratic function

The second function in Exercise 2 is an example of quadratic functions.
Definition: A function : such that () = 2 + + for some , ,
and 0 is called a quadratic function.
5

The graph of a quadratic function is not a straight line, but a parabola ().
Remark: Parabola is closely related to the trajectory of a projectile.
Examples: Consider () = 2 , . The graph of is as follows:

When > 0, the graph is open upwards, with turning point at (0,0).
When < 0, the graph is open downwards, with turning point at (0,0).
Now consider the example: () = 2 2 2 4 . We rewrite the function as
follows:
1 2
1 2
1 2 9
() = 2( 2 ) 4 = 2 ( 2 + ( ) ) 2 ( ) 4 = 2 ( )
2
2
2
2
1 2

Observe that the term 2 ( 2) is non-negative. Moreover, it attains minimum i.e.

1

zero when = 2 .

In other words, () attains minimum value when = 2 .

1

Therefore, the turning point of the graph must be at = 2 i.e. the coordinates of
1

the turning point of the graph of is (2 , 2).

6

Moreover, the graph cuts the x-axis at = 1

and = 2. They are called the x-intercepts.
These are the points when () = 0. In other
words, the x-intercepts are the roots of the
equation
2 2 2 4 = (2 4)( + 1) = 0
Remark: If the graph of a quadratic function
has no x-intercept, then it means that the
corresponding quadratic polynomial has no real
roots.
To summarize, we have the following theorem:
Theorem: Let () = 2 + + be a quadratic function. Suppose it is rewrite as
() = ( )2 + for some , . Then (, ) is the turning point of the
graph of .
Moreover, the real root(s) of the polynomial () are the
x-intercept(s) of the graph.
Exercise 4:
1. Let () = 3 2 2 5. Find the turning point and the x-intercept(s) of its
graph.

2.

Express and in terms of , and in the theorem. Hence show that the
graph of () = 2 + + has no x-intercept if 2 4 < 0.

3.

Let be a quadratic function such that (1) = 3, (2) = 4 and (0) = 6.

Find this function.

4.

In general, suppose is a quadratic function such that (1 ) = 1 , (2 ) = 2

and (3 ) = 3 . Prove that
() = 1 ( 2 )( 3 ) + 2 ( 1 )( 3 ) + 3 ( 1 )( 2 )
where
1 =

1
,
(1 2 )(1 3 )

2 =

2
(2 1 )(2 3 )

,
3 =

3
(3 1 )(3 2 )

(Can you generalize this to higher degree polynomial functions?)