Unit 3

Curve Sketching

Lesson 1: Symmetry and Asymptotes


Have you ever walked along a beach and wished you could capture, on canvas, at least a fraction of the visual experience? It is a rare artist indeed who can recreate both a visual and an emotional experience. In mathematics, graphing a function is much like an artist painting on canvas. Graphing creates a visual representation of a function or relation. The graph must be accurate and complete for it to be meaningful.

This Unit will help you develop skills in Curve Sketching. These skills can be used not only in calculus, but also in most branches of mathematics and the sciences. The focus of this Unit will include symmetry, asymptotes, intervals of increase and decrease (first derivative), concavity and inflection points (second derivative), and sketching the graphs of functions by incorporating the skills learned.