Answer:
Square root functions look like half of a horizontal parabola.
Explanation:
Radical functions include a radical expression and a variable under the radicand.
Defining Radical Functions
There are an infinite amount of possible radical functions. However, we are specifically asked about the square root function. The function we are given is:
This is the parent function. This means that it is the simplest form of the square root function. Remember that you cannot take the square root of a negative number (not with real numbers), so our domain is x ≥ 0. So, there will be no values to the left of the y-axis.
Graphing the Function
In order to graph the function, we can find 3 points on the graph. To find coordinate points on the graph, we can plug in 3 x-values and find the corresponding y-value. To make it easier, we can use perfect squares like 1, 4, and 9.
Now that we have our three points, (1,1), (4,2), and (9, 3), we can graph them and connect them with a curved line. Below is a picture of the graph.