Page 29 - Calculus Demystified

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y CHAPTER 1 Basics

x

Fig. 1.19

Fig. 1.20

EXAMPLE 1.14
3
Sketch the graph of the curve {(x, y): y = x }.
SOLUTION
It is convenient to make a table of values:

3
x y = x
−3 −27
−2 −8
−1 −1
0 0
1 1
2 8
3 27

We plot these points on a single set of axes (Fig. 1.21). Supposing that the
curve we seek to draw is a smooth interpolation of these points (calculus will
later show us that this supposition is correct), we find that our curve is as shown
in Fig. 1.22. This curve is called a cubic.