Graphical calculators help us to quickly plot the points of a function's curve.
Given a domain (or an interval of \(x\) values) over which we wish to study a function and its curve, a calculator is capable of plotting hundreds of points at a speed that we could never match otherwise.
Nevertheless, it is important to keep in mind that all that a calculator does is construct its very own table of values, just as we would do by hand.
Given a function, \(f(x)\), or a curve's equation \(y=f(x)\), our starting point is to learn how to plot this on our calculator.
We learn how to do this in the following tutorial.
In the following tutorial we plot the curve of \(f(x) = x^3-7x+6\), for \(-4\leq x \leq 4\).
We learn two things:
The next skill we need to know with the calculator is how to find the coordinates of any maximum or minimum points on a curve.
We learn how to do this in the tutorial below.
Plot the curve \(f(x) = \) for \(-4\leq x \leq 4\) and find the coordinates of any maximum or minimum points..
The last skill we learn about on this page, with the calculator, is how to find the coordinates of any \(x\)-intercepts, those are the points at which the curve cuts, or crosses, the \(x\)-axis.
We learn how to do this in the tutorial below.