Question

For the parent function y equals the square root of x what effect does a value of b = -2 have on the graph?

Answer 1

From what you have shared I see y = sqrt(x). I do not see "b."

Did you perhaps mean y = -2sqrt(x)? In that case, the graph of y=sqrt(x) would be reflected in the x-axis and the resulting graph stretched by a factor of 2.