FG9: Graphs and Transformations

If you know the graph of a function, you can often transform it to a

graph of a more complex but related function. A simple example is
the graph of the line

y = x.

It has the graph:

The graph of

y = x+2

is shown in red below

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This is just the graph of y = x shifted 2 units upward and is an

example of a transformation involving vertical translation.
This module discusses how to transform the graphs of known
functions to more complex functions using simple rules that are
called transformations. In particular, we will consider the following
transformations:

1. Reflection

2. Translation

3. Dilation

4. Combinations of the above.

Basic Graphs

When attempting to graph a function, the following items need to be

considered:

• x and y intercepts

• turning points

• behavior as x → ±∞

• asymptotes.
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It is very useful to know the graphs of some simple functions. You

can then transform them to more complex functions using the con-
tents of this module. Below are some basic graphs that you should
know.1 1
While it is best that you know these
graphs, if you cannot recall them, you
can still determine their graphs by
plotting some points.

Graph of y = x

This is a straight line with slope or gradient of 1. It passes through

the origin and is shown below.

Graph of y = x2

This is a parabola with vertex at the origin as shown below.

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Graph of y = x3

The essential feature is that the graph goes through the origin in-
creases for positive x and decreases for negative x.
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Graph of y = 1/x

This is a graph with asymptotes at x = 0 and y = 0 (the x − axis) as

shown below.
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Graph of y = a x

The basic graph is as shown below for a = 1.6.

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The important thing to note is that the y− intercept is at 1 and

doesn’t depend on the value of a because a0 = 1. Also the function
cannot be less than zero so the negative x −axis is an asymptote.
Changing the value of a will change the values on the y−axis but the
basic shape of the graph is the same. In practice, the most common
value of a is e and is most likely to come up in your course. So the
graph above gives the basic shape of y = e x but the y− axis values
are incorrect.

Graph of y = log x

The graph is shown below.

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The important characteristic is that the graph cuts the x − axis at

1 because log (1) = 0. Note that this graph is similar for ln ( x ) =
loge ( x ) or any other log base .
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Graph of y = sin ( x )

Transformations

As mentioned above, transformations may be used to modify basic

graphs. The transformations are

1. Reflection

2. Translation

3. Dilation

4. Combinations of the above.

Reflection

As the name suggests, a reflection is a mirror image of a graph. Re-

flection may be about any line but generally involves the x or y axes.
For a graph y = f ( x ) ,

y = f (− x )

reflects the graph about the y−axis while

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y = − f (x)

reflects the graph about the x −axis.

Example 1: Reflection of y = a x in the x and y axes

Referring to the graphs shown below.
The original graph is y = a x and is shown in blue.
Reflection about the y−axis is given by y = a− x and is shown in
red.
Reflection about the x −axis is given by y = − a x and is shown in
green.

Example 2: Reflection of y = x2 in the x and y axes

Original graph is y = x2 and is shown in blue below
Reflection about the y−axis is given by y = (− x )2 = x2 . This
means the reflection in the y−axis of the original graph doesn’t
change anything. This is due to symmetry of the original graph
about the y−axis.
Reflection about the x −axis is given by y = − x2 and is shown
below in red.
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Example 3: Reflection of y = 2x + 1 in the x and y axes

Original graph is y = 2x + 1 and is shown in blue below.

Reflection in the y−axis is given by y = 2 (− x ) + 1 = −2x + 1 and
is shown in green.
Reflection in the x −axis is given by y = − (2x + 1) = −2x − 1 and
is shown in red.
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Translation

Translation involves moving a graph, in the x − y plane, horizontally

or vertically.

Horizontal
The graph of y = f ( x − a) is a shift of the graph of y = f ( x ) “a”
units to the right.
The graph of y = f ( x + a) is a shift of the graph of y = f ( x ) “a”
units to the left.

Vertical
The graph of y = f ( x ) + b is a shift of the graph of y = f ( x ) “b”
units up.
The graph of y = f ( x ) − b is a shift of the graph of y = f ( x ) “b”
units down.

Example 4: Translation of y = log ( x ) 1 unit to the right.

Original graph is y = log ( x ) and is shown in blue below. The trans-
lated graph is y = log ( x − 1) and is shown in red below. It is the
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graph of the original function shifted 1 unit to the right.

Note that the negative y−axis forms an asymptote for the original
graph. The translated graph has an asymptote of x = 1 and is shown
as a dotted line. The new asymptote should be shown on the graph
of the transformed function.

Example 5: Translation of y = 1/x three units to the left

The original graph is of y = 1/x and is shown in blue below. The

translated graph is

1
y=
x+3

and is the graph of the original function shifted 3 units to the left. It
is shown in red below.
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The original graph had the y−axis as its asymptote. The trans-
formed graph has an asymptote at x = −1 which is shown as a
dotted line.

Example 6: Translation of y = sin ( x ) , π/2 units to the left

The original graph is of y = sin ( x ). The transformed graph is

y = sin ( x + π/2) . Both graphs are shown below in blue and red
respectively below.
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This is an interesting example as the translation converts the sine

function to the cosine function.2 2
To see this, recall the trigonometry
identity
sin ( a + b) = sin ( a) cos (b) + cos ( a) sin (b) .
Now let a = x and b = π/2. Substitut-
ing in the above identity we get

 π π π
sin x + = sin ( x ) cos + cos ( x ) sin
2 2 2
= sin ( x ) · 0 + cos ( x ) · 1
= cos ( x ) .

Example 7: Translation of y = sin ( x ) two units vertically up

The original graph is of y = sin ( x ). The transformed graph is

y = sin ( x ) + 2 . Both graphs are shown below in blue and red re-
spectively below.
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It is clear that the translation simply moves the graph of y =

sin ( x ) up 2 units. Nothing else changes.

Example 8: Translation of y = x2 two units vertically down

The original graph is of y = x2 . The transformed graph is y = x2 − 2 .

Both graphs are shown below in blue and red respectively.
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It is clear that the translation simply moves the graph of y = x2

down 2 units. Nothing else changes.

Dilations

Dilations stretch or compress a graph of a function. The stretching or

compression can occur in the directions of either the x or the y axes,
or both.
The graph of y = a f ( x ) is a dilation of the graph of y = f ( x ) by a
factor of “a” units in the direction parallel to the y−axis. If a > 1 the
graph is stretched or elongated. If a < 1,the graph is compressed or
squashed.
The graph of y = f (bx ) is a dilation of the graph of y = f ( x ) by
a factor of “1/b” units in the direction parallel to the x −axis. If b > 1
the graph is compressed or squashed. If b < 1,the graph is stretched
or elongated.

Example 9: Dilation of y = x2 parallel to the y−axis by a factor of 4

and 1/3

The graphs are shown below.

The original graph of y = x2 is shown in blue.
The dilation y = 4x2 is shown in red and shows that the original
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graph is stretched parallel to the y− axis.

The dilation y = 13 x2 is shown in green and shows that the original
graph is squashed parallel to the y− axis.

Example 10: Dilation of y = sin ( x ) parallel to the x −axis by a factor

of 2

The graphs are shown below.

The original graph of y = sin ( x ) is shown in blue. It has a period
of 2π.
The dilation y = sin (2x ) is shown in red and shows that the
original graph is squashed by a factor of 2 parallel to the x − axis.
The dilated graph has a period of π which is half that of the original
graph.
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Example 11: Dilation of y = sin ( x ) parallel to the x −axis by a factor

of 1/2

The graphs are shown below.

The original graph of y = sin ( x ) is shown in blue. It has a period
of 2π.
The dilation y = sin (0.5x ) is shown in red and shows that the
original graph is stretched parallel to the x − axis. The dilated graph
has a period of 4π which is twice that of the original graph.
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Combinations of Transformations

More complicated graphs may be obtained from a basic graph by

combining reflection, translation and dilation. In such cases you start
with the basic graph and do the dilation first (if there is one). After
this step, do translations and reflections in any order.

Example 12: Graph of y = 2x3 + 4

The basic graph is y = x3 . We want to transform this to y = 2x3 + 4.

This involves two transformations

y= 2
|{z} x3 + 4
|{z}
Transformation1 Transformation 2

Transformation 1 is a dilation of 2 parallel to the y−axis. It is a

stretching of the original graph parallel to the y−axis.
Transformation 2 is a translation of 4 units upward.
The basic graph to be transformed is y = x3 and is shown in blue
below.
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We first do the dilation on this basic graph. That is we graph y =

2x3 . This is shown as the dashed blue graph below.

Finally we do the translation of 4 units upwards to get the desired

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graph of y = 2x3 + 4. This is shown in red below.

The only thing left to do is identify where the graph of y = 2x3 + 4

intersects the x −axis. To do this we set y = 0 and solve for x. That is

2x3 + 4 = 0
2x3 = −4
x 3 = −2
x = −1.26.

This information can be added to get the following figure:

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Our final answer is the red graph shown below:

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Example 13: Graph of y = − ( x + 2)2 − 1

The basic graph in this case is y = x2 . There are three transformations

involved:

y= −
|{z} ( x + 2)2 −1
|{z}
| {z }
Transformation 1 Tranformation 2 Transformation 3

Transformation 1 is a reflection about the x −axis.

Transformation 2 is shift of y = x2 to the left by 2units.
Transformation 3 is a shift of 1 unit downwards.
As there is no dilation, we are free to make the transforms on the
basic graph in any order. In this example we will go from transfor-
mation 1 to 3 but the order does not matter.
The figure below shows the basic graph y = x2 in blue.

Transformation 1 reflects this in the x −axis. This is the graph of

y = − x2 and is shown in dashed blue below.
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Transformation 2 shifts the graph of y = − x2 , 2 units to the left.

This is the graph of y = − ( x − 2)2 and is shown in orange.

Transformation 3 shifts the graph of y = − ( x + 2)2 down one unit.

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This is the desired graph of y = − ( x + 2)2 − 1 and is shown below in

red.

The intercept of the graph of y = − ( x + 2)2 − 1 appears to at

(0, −5)). This can be checked by setting x = 0 :

y = − ( x + 2)2 − 1
= − (0 + 2)2 − 1
= −5.

The final graph of y = − ( x + 2)2 − 1 is shown below in red. We have

marked the y−intercept at (0, −5) and the vertex at (−2, 1) .
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√
Example 14: Graph of y = −x + 2

√
The basic graph is of y = x .
√
The graph of y = − x + 2 involves two transformations:

s
y= −x
|{z}
+ 2
|{z} .
Transformation 1 Transformation 2

√
Transformation 1 is a reflection of the graph of y = x in the
√
y−axis and is the graph of y = − x.
Transformation 2 is a translation of 2units vertically up and gives
√
the graph of y = x + 2.
√ √ √
The graphs of y = x, y = − x, and y = − x + 2 are shown
below in blue, dashed blue and red, respectively.
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Exercises

Sketch the following graphs

2
1. y = x+ 1
Answer
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2. y = log ( x + 3)
Answer

3. y = x2 − 25
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Answer

4. y = 2 − ( x + 1)2
Answer
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5. y = 4x
Answer

6. y = 2e x + 1
Answer
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