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How to Graph Using the Tabular Method

Rene Descarte invented the idea of graphing equations one morning while laying in bed watching a fly crawl across the ceiling. He thought that if the edges of the ceiling were calibrated like rulers, it wold be possible to chart the fly's progress as a series of numbers. This indolent adventure was the beginning of the tradition we now have of turning equations into pictures. In the modern version of the Cartesian coordinate systems, the horizontal X axis represents an independent variable and the vertical Y axis represents the dependent variable of a relationship.

Instructions

    • 1

      Create a table with two columns. Title the left hand column X and the right hand column Y. In the left hand column, enter some "likely" values, such as zero. Fill in the Y column by computing the Y value that corresponds to each X value in the table that does not have a corresponding Y value.

    • 2

      Locate key points that make interesting points for the table. It is also important to recognize a linear equation whose graph will be a straight line -- you will only need two points for these. A linear equation will have no variables with non integer exponents or exponents greater than 1 or exponents in denominators.

    • 3

      Plot the points from the table onto a Cartesian graph. Connect the points in the table to make a curve. If the curves are hard to generate, look for special points that can distort the curve. One of these is a place where the denominator is zero. Such a point generates an asymptote -- a line that the curve approaches closer and closer as the value of the line goes to infinity.

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