How to Draw a Graph

Step-by-Step Guide

1. 1

   Step 1: Draw the x axis.

   Make a horizontal line on the paper.
   
   You may draw arrows on the ends of the line to indicate it is a number line that continues past your data sample.
   
   Put the label "X" to the right of the line to indicate the x axis.
   
   Mark the center of the line with a vertical tick mark and label it
   0.
   
   This is the origin of the graph.
   
   Make equally spaced tick marks on the rest of the x axis.
   
   For this example you should label the tick marks from 1 to 10 on the right side of the
   0.
2. 2

   Step 2: Draw the y axis.

   Make a vertical line that passes through the origin of the x axis.
   
   Put the label "Y" above the line.
   
   Make equally spaced tick marks on the y axis.
   
   For this example you should label the tick marks from 2 to 20 above the
   0. , We will be drawing a graph using the function f(x) = 2x.
   
   This means that y = 2x.
   
   For every possible value on the x axis there will be a corresponding value on the y axis.
   
   To calculate the value of y, plug a number into x.
   
   If x= 3 then f(x) =
   6.
   
   Only positive values will be used in this example.
   
   Set x = 0, 2, 4, 6, and
   8.
   
   The corresponding y values are 0, 4, 8, 12, and
   16.
   
   The result is a set of ordered pairs represented with the x, or abscissa, first and the y, or ordinate, second.
   
   For our example we will have five ordered pairs: (0,0), (2,4), (4,8), (6,12), and (8,16). , Count over on the x axis then count up on the y axis.
   
   The value of y is marked on the the graph above the x value. ,
3. 3

   Step 3: Calculate the values of y for several values of x.

4. 4

   Step 4: Mark the ordered pairs on the graph.

5. 5

   Step 5: You have created a graph of the function f(x) = 2x.

Detailed Guide

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