Transcript for:
Graphing Absolute Value Functions Explained

- WE WANT TO GRAPH THE ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION F(X) = 1/2 x THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF THE QUANTITY X + 2 - 3. THERE ARE A COUPLE WAYS TO GO ABOUT GRAPHING THIS FUNCTION, BUT IT IS HELPFUL TO KNOW WHAT THE BASIC ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION LOOKS LIKE, AND WE SHOULD RECOGNIZE IT HERE WHERE WE HAVE G(X) = THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF X. NOTICE THE SHAPE IS A V. ALL ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTIONS WILL BE Vs. THEY MAY BE WIDER OR NARROWER OR OPEN UP OR DOWN, BUT THEY'LL ALWAYS BE IN THE SHAPE OF A V. EVERY ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION HAS A VERTEX WHICH IS THE HIGHEST POINT OR LOWEST POINT ON THE GRAPH. IN THIS CASE, THIS WOULD BE THE VERTEX, AND THIS IS A KEY POINT TO FIND WHEN GRAPHING AN ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION. IF WE CAN FIND THE VERTEX AND THEN JUST ONE POINT ON THE RIGHT AND ONE POINT ON THE LEFT OF THE VERTEX, WE CAN MAKE A NICE ACCURATE GRAPH OF AN ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION. SO GOING BACK TO OUR EXAMPLE, TO FIND THE X COORDINATE OF THE VERTEX, WE WANT TO SET THE EXPRESSION INSIDE THE ABSOLUTE VALUE, OR IN THIS CASE X + 2 = 0, AND SOLVE FOR X. SO IF I SET X + 2 = 0 AND SOLVE FOR X, NOTICE HOW X = -2. SO IF WE'RE GOING TO COMPLETE A TABLE OF VALUES TO GRAPH THIS FUNCTION, WE WANT ONE OF THE X VALUES TO BE -2. AND BECAUSE THE VERTEX WILL BE AT X = -2, IF WE SELECT ONE X VALUE TO THE LEFT OF -2 OR LESS THAN -2 AND ONE X VALUE TO THE RIGHT OF -2 OR GREATER THAN -2, WE CAN MAKE A NICE ACCURATE GRAPH OF THE ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION. BUT BECAUSE WE HAVE THIS 1/2 HERE, WE WOULD LIKE X + 2 TO BE A MULTIPLE OF 2. SO FOR A VALUE THAT'S GREATER THAN -2, I'M NOT GOING TO USE -1 HERE, BECAUSE NOTICE THAT -1 + 2 = +1, NOT A MULTIPLE OF 2. IT WOULDN'T BE WRONG, BUT THEN WE'D HAVE A FRACTION FOR THE VALUE OF Y. SO INSTEAD OF USING -1, LET'S USE X = 0. NOTICE 0 + 2 = 2 WHICH IS A MULTIPLE OF 2. AND NOW FOR A VALUE OF X THAT'S LESS THAN -2 SO THAT X + 2 IS A MULTIPLE OF 2, I'M NOT GOING TO USE -3, BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE -3 + 2 OR -1, NOT A MULTIPLE OF 2, SO I'LL USE -4 FOR AN X VALUE THAT'S LESS THAN -2. IT WOULDN'T BE WRONG TO HAVE A FRACTION VALUE OF Y, BUT IT WOULD BE MORE DIFFICULT TO GRAPH. NOW THAT WE'VE FOUND THE X VALUES THAT WE WANT TO USE, WE'LL EVALUATE THE FUNCTION AT THESE X VALUES TO FIND THE CORRESPONDING Y VALUES. SO WHEN X IS -2, WE WANT TO FIND F(-2) WHICH WOULD BE 1/2 x THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF -2 + 2 AND THEN - 3. WELL, THIS IS GOING TO BE 1/2 x THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF 0 - 3. WELL, THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF 0 IS 0 x 1/2 IS 0, SO WE JUST HAVE -3 HERE. SO WHEN X IS -2, Y IS -3, SO THIS WOULD BE THE VERTEX OF THE ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION WHICH WOULD BE HERE. NOW WE HAVE X = 0. SO TO FIND THE CORRESPONDING Y VALUE, WE WANT TO FIND F(0) WHICH IS GOING TO BE 1/2 x THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF 0 + 2 - 3, SO THIS WILL BE 1/2 x, THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF +2 IS 2 WHICH I'LL WRITE AS 2/1 - 3. NOTICE HERE THIS SIMPLIFIES NICELY GIVING US JUST 1 - 3 WHICH IS -2. SO THE (0,-2) OR THIS POINT HERE, WOULD BE A POINT ON THE ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION. AND THEN FINALLY, WE HAVE X = - 4. SO TO FIND THE CORRESPONDING Y VALUE, WE WANT TO FIND F(-4). SO WE'LL HAVE 1/2 x THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF -4 + 2 - 3, SO WE HAVE 1/2 x, THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF -2 WHICH IS STILL +2 OR 2/1 - 3. NOTICE HOW THE FUNCTION VALUE WHEN X IS -4 IS THE SAME AS THE FUNCTION VALUE WHEN X IS 0. WE HAVE 1 - 3 OR -2. SO (-4,-2) OR THIS POINT HERE IS ON THE FUNCTION. NOW WE CAN MAKE A NICE ACCURATE GRAPH OF OUR ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION. SINCE THIS IS THE VERTEX, THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE GRAPH WOULD LOOK LIKE THIS, AND THE LEFT SIDE WOULD LOOK LIKE THIS. NOW THERE'S ALSO A WAY TO GRAPH THIS ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION BY USING TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE BASIC SQUARE ROOT FUNCTION. IF WE COMPARE THE BASIC ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION GRAPHED HERE IN RED TO OUR ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION HERE, FOR THE FUNCTION F(X) = 1/2 x THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF THE QUANTITY X + 2 - 3, IT WOULD TAKE THE POINTS ON THE BASIC ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION, AND THEN BECAUSE WE HAVE X + 2 INSIDE THE ABSOLUTE VALUE, IT WOULD SHIFT THE POINTS LEFT 2 UNITS. AND THEN BECAUSE OF THIS 1/2 HERE, WE WOULD MULTIPLY ALL OF THE Y COORDINATES OF THE POINTS ON THE ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION BY 1/2, HORIZONTALLY COMPRESSING THE FUNCTION, AND THEN THE - 3 HERE SHIFTS ALL THE POINTS DOWN 3 UNITS. SO WE COULD SAY F(X) TAKES THE ABSOLUTE VALUE FUNCTION, SHIFTS IT LEFT 2 UNITS, HORIZONTALLY COMPRESSES IT BY 1/2, AND THEN SHIFTS IT DOWN 3 UNITS. I HOPE YOU FOUND THIS HELPFUL.