Algebra Examples

$- \frac{1}{2} \sqrt{x}$

Step 1

Find the domain for $y = - \frac{1}{2} \cdot \sqrt{x}$ so that a list of $x$ values can be picked to find a list of points, which will help graphing the radical.

Tap for more steps...

Step 1.1

Set the radicand in $\sqrt{x}$ greater than or equal to $0$ to find where the expression is defined.

$x \geq 0$

Step 1.2

The domain is all values of $x$ that make the expression defined.

Interval Notation:

$[0, \infty)$

Set-Builder Notation:

${x | x \geq 0}$

Interval Notation:

$[0, \infty)$

Set-Builder Notation:

${x | x \geq 0}$

Step 2

To find the radical expression end point, substitute the $x$ value $0$ , which is the least value in the domain, into $f (x) = - \frac{\sqrt{x}}{2}$ .

Tap for more steps...

Step 2.1

Replace the variable $x$ with $0$ in the expression.

$f (0) = - \frac{\sqrt{0}}{2}$

Step 2.2

Simplify the result.

Tap for more steps...

Step 2.2.1

Simplify the numerator.

Tap for more steps...

Step 2.2.1.1

Rewrite $0$ as $0^{2}$ .

$f (0) = - \frac{\sqrt{0^{2}}}{2}$

Step 2.2.1.2

Pull terms out from under the radical, assuming positive real numbers.

$f (0) = - \frac{0}{2}$

Step 2.2.2

Simplify the expression.

Tap for more steps...

Step 2.2.2.1

Divide $0$ by $2$ .

$f (0) = - 0$

Step 2.2.2.2

Multiply $- 1$ by $0$ .

$f (0) = 0$

Step 2.2.3

The final answer is $0$ .

$0$

Step 3

The radical expression end point is $(0, 0)$ .

$(0, 0)$

Step 4

Select a few $x$ values from the domain. It would be more useful to select the values so that they are next to the $x$ value of the radical expression end point.

Tap for more steps...

Step 4.1

Substitute the $x$ value $1$ into $f (x) = - \frac{\sqrt{x}}{2}$ . In this case, the point is $(1, - \frac{1}{2})$ .

Tap for more steps...

Step 4.1.1

Replace the variable $x$ with $1$ in the expression.

$f (1) = - \frac{\sqrt{1}}{2}$

Step 4.1.2

Simplify the result.

Tap for more steps...

Step 4.1.2.1

Any root of $1$ is $1$ .

$f (1) = - \frac{1}{2}$

Step 4.1.2.2

The final answer is $- \frac{1}{2}$ .

$y = - \frac{1}{2}$

Step 4.2

Substitute the $x$ value $2$ into $f (x) = - \frac{\sqrt{x}}{2}$ . In this case, the point is $(2, - \frac{\sqrt{2}}{2})$ .

Tap for more steps...

Step 4.2.1

Replace the variable $x$ with $2$ in the expression.

$f (2) = - \frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}$

Step 4.2.2

The final answer is $- \frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}$ .

$y = - \frac{\sqrt{2}}{2}$

Step 4.3

The square root can be graphed using the points around the vertex $(0, 0), (1, - 0.5), (2, - 0.71)$

$\begin{array}{c} x & y \\ 0 & 0 \\ 1 & - 0.5 \\ 2 & - 0.71 \end{array}$

Step 5