We explored five different function families in class today. You can tell if a function belongs to a certain family by either
1) the shape it makes when you graph it on a coordinate plane or 2) what it looks like as an equation
1) The linear function family are straight-line graphs. They look like y = 4x + 2 in an equation, where the x is next to the slope and there's usually (but not always!) a number behind it, which represents the y-intercept.
2) The quadratic function family are parabolas. They have x to the second power in their equations.
3) The cubic function family look like tangent graphs. They have x to the third power in their equations.
4) The radical function family looks like an arc going in one direction on the graph. They have x underneath the radical sign in their equations.
and finally...
5) The exponential function family looks like a giant curve on the graph. X is to a power (so the x is little) in a function.
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