Algebra Examples

$y = - \frac{1}{2} x^{3}$

Step 1

Find the point at $x = - 2$ .

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Step 1.1

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

$f (- 2) = - \frac{{(- 2)}^{3}}{2}$

Step 1.2

Simplify the result.

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Step 1.2.1

Cancel the common factor of ${(- 2)}^{3}$ and $2$ .

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Step 1.2.1.1

Rewrite $- 2$ as $- 1 (2)$ .

$f (- 2) = - \frac{{(- 1 \cdot 2)}^{3}}{2}$

Step 1.2.1.2

Apply the product rule to $- 1 (2)$ .

$f (- 2) = - \frac{{(- 1)}^{3} \cdot 2^{3}}{2}$

Step 1.2.1.3

Raise $- 1$ to the power of $3$ .

$f (- 2) = - \frac{- 1 \cdot 2^{3}}{2}$

Step 1.2.1.4

Factor $2$ out of $- 1 \cdot 2^{3}$ .

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

Step 1.2.1.5

Cancel the common factors.

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Step 1.2.1.5.1

Factor $2$ out of $2$ .

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

Step 1.2.1.5.2

Cancel the common factor.

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

Step 1.2.1.5.3

Rewrite the expression.

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

Step 1.2.1.5.4

Divide $- 1 \cdot 2^{2}$ by $1$ .

$f (- 2) = - (- 1 \cdot 2^{2})$

Step 1.2.2

Simplify the expression.

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Step 1.2.2.1

Rewrite $- 1 \cdot 2^{2}$ as $- 2^{2}$ .

$f (- 2) = 2^{2}$

Step 1.2.2.2

Raise $2$ to the power of $2$ .

$f (- 2) = - (- 1 \cdot 4)$

Step 1.2.3

Multiply $- (- 1 \cdot 4)$ .

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Step 1.2.3.1

Multiply $- 1$ by $4$ .

$f (- 2) = 4$

Step 1.2.3.2

Multiply $- 1$ by $- 4$ .

$f (- 2) = 4$

Step 1.2.4

The final answer is $4$ .

$4$

Step 1.3

Convert $4$ to decimal.

$y = 4$

Step 2

Find the point at $x = 0$ .

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Step 2.1

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

$f (0) = - \frac{{(0)}^{3}}{2}$

Step 2.2

Simplify the result.

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Step 2.2.1

Raising $0$ to any positive power yields $0$ .

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

Step 2.2.2

Divide $0$ by $2$ .

$f (0) = - 0$

Step 2.2.3

Multiply $- 1$ by $0$ .

$f (0) = 0$

Step 2.2.4

The final answer is $0$ .

$0$

Step 2.3

Convert $0$ to decimal.

$y = 0$

Step 3

Find the point at $x = 2$ .

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Step 3.1

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

$f (2) = - \frac{{(2)}^{3}}{2}$

Step 3.2

Simplify the result.

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Step 3.2.1

Cancel the common factor of ${(2)}^{3}$ and $2$ .

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Step 3.2.1.1

Factor $2$ out of ${(2)}^{3}$ .

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

Step 3.2.1.2

Cancel the common factors.

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Step 3.2.1.2.1

Factor $2$ out of $2$ .

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

Step 3.2.1.2.2

Cancel the common factor.

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

Step 3.2.1.2.3

Rewrite the expression.

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

Step 3.2.1.2.4

Divide $2^{2}$ by $1$ .

$f (2) = - 2^{2}$

Step 3.2.2

Simplify the expression.

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Step 3.2.2.1

Raise $2$ to the power of $2$ .

$f (2) = - 1 \cdot 4$

Step 3.2.2.2

Multiply $- 1$ by $4$ .

$f (2) = - 4$

Step 3.2.3

The final answer is $- 4$ .

$- 4$

Step 3.3

Convert $- 4$ to decimal.

$y = - 4$

Step 4

Find the point at $x = - 1$ .

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Step 4.1

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

$f (- 1) = - \frac{{(- 1)}^{3}}{2}$

Step 4.2

Simplify the result.

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Step 4.2.1

Raise $- 1$ to the power of $3$ .

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

Step 4.2.2

Move the negative in front of the fraction.

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

Step 4.2.3

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

$\frac{1}{2}$

Step 4.3

Convert $\frac{1}{2}$ to decimal.

$y = 0.5$

Step 5

Find the point at $x = 1$ .

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Step 5.1

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

$f (1) = - \frac{{(1)}^{3}}{2}$

Step 5.2

Simplify the result.

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Step 5.2.1

One to any power is one.

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

Step 5.2.2

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

$- \frac{1}{2}$

Step 5.3

Convert $- \frac{1}{2}$ to decimal.

$y = - 0.5$

Step 6

The cubic function can be graphed using the function behavior and the points.

$\begin{array}{c} x & y \\ - 2 & 4 \\ - 1 & 0.5 \\ 0 & 0 \\ 1 & - 0.5 \\ 2 & - 4 \end{array}$

Step 7

The cubic function can be graphed using the function behavior and the selected points.

Rises to the left and falls to the right

$\begin{array}{c} x & y \\ - 2 & 4 \\ - 1 & 0.5 \\ 0 & 0 \\ 1 & - 0.5 \\ 2 & - 4 \end{array}$

Step 8