How to Graph Power Functions
Power functions can look so overwhelming! But let me break it down for you into easy digest-able pieces. You need to think in terms of SHAPE and QUADRANTS using this little graphic.
There’s really only three shapes you need to remember and they are shown across the top line below.
SHAPE:
- Power has HIGHER number on NUMERATOR (Shape heads high)
- Power has LOWER number on NUMERATOR (Shape stays low)
- Power is NEGATIVE (Think of the ‘giant drop’ or the ‘free fall’ water slide at a theme park!)
QUADRANTS: (All forms include Quadrant 1)
- EVEN on denominator (Quadrant 1 only)
- ODD on denominator and numerator (ODD quadrants – Quadrants 1&3)
- EVEN on Numerator (include the EVEN quadrant – Quadrant 1&2)
To put a graph in Quadrant 4, you’ll need to reflect it – either in the x or y-axis.
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