Drawing Quadratic and Cubic Graphs Math Review

math tutorials > drawing quadratic and cubic graphs

 

The plotting of quadratic and cubic graphs is a vast topic and can be done in various ways.  The aim of this tutorial is to introduce you to the 2 types of graphs and the tabular method of drawing them (as we did for straight line graphs).

 

Quadratic Graphs

The equation for a quadratic graph can be written as  

 

a, b, and c are constants.
y has the power of 1.
x has a maximum power of 2.

The graphs of quadratic equations are called parabolas.

 

Examples

 

These are all parabolas:

 

Drawing the graph

 

 

 

Parabola problems for you to try

 

 

Cubic Graphs.

Cubic graphs are in the form  

 

a, b, c and d are constants.
y has a power of 1.
x has a maximum power of 3.

 

Examples

 

Draw the graph

 

 

Cubic graph problems for you to try

 

 

Note:

You can calculate the intercepts of parabolas and cubics in the same way as for straight lines.
For the x-intercept, put y = 0.  (A parabola may have 2 x-intercepts, a cubic 3).
For the y-intercept, put x = 0.