What are the important information needed to graph #y= tan(x/2) + 1 #?

1 Answer
Feb 8, 2017

Lots of stuff(s) :D

Explanation:

graph{tan(x/2)+1 [-4, 4, -5, 5]}

To get the graph above, you need a couple of things.

The constant, #+1# represents how much the graph is raised. Compare to the graph below of #y=tan(x/2)# without the constant.

graph{tan(x/2) [-4, 4, -5, 5]}

After finding the constant, you can find the period, which are the lengths at which the function repeats itself. #tan(x)# has a period of #pi#, so #tan(x/2)# has a period of #2pi# (because the angle is divided by two inside the equation)

Depending on your teacher's requirements, you may need to plug in a certain number of points to complete your graph. Remember that #tan(x)# is undefined when #cos(x) = 0# and is zero when #sin(x) = 0# because #tan(x) = (sin(x))/(cos(x))#