Answer:
Many quadratic functions can be graphed easily by hand using the techniques of stretching/shrinking and shifting (translation) the parabola y = x2 . (See the section on manipulating graphs.)
Example 1.
Sketch the graph of y = x2/2. Starting with the graph of y = x2, we shrink by a factor of one half. This means that for each point on the graph of y = x2, we draw a new point that is one half of the way from the x-axis to that point.
