Certain functions display properties of symmetry that help us understand them and the shapes of their graphs. There are two types of symmetry when we talk about functions and their graphs: even and odd. If a function has even symmetry, that means it is symmetrical with respect to the y-axis. If a function has odd symmetry, that means it is symmetrical with respect to the origin.
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Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenCertain functions display properties of symmetry that help us understand them and the shapes of their graphs. There are two types of symmetry when we talk about functions and their graphs: even and odd. If a function has even symmetry, that means it is symmetrical with respect to the y-axis. If a function has odd symmetry, that means it is symmetrical with respect to the origin.
In this article, we cover everything you need to know regarding symmetry of functions and their graphs, including what an axis of symmetry is and how to find it, an in-depth analysis of even and odd functions and their properties, how to find the axis of symmetry for a quadratic function, and the symmetry of trig functions.
A shape, or graph, has what we call reflective symmetry if it remains unchanged after we reflect it over a line.
Notice how the purple line cuts the pentagon in half? That means the purple line is an axis of symmetry for the pentagon.
The Axis or Line of Symmetry is the line that passes through the center of a shape and divides it into identical halves, so that one half is the mirror-image of the other half.
In other words, an Axis or Line of Symmetry creates exact reflections of an object on both sides.
An axis of symmetry doesn't have to be a vertical line. It could also be horizontal or angled. As long as it is a straight line, any line can be an axis of symmetry!
In fact, different shapes have different axes of symmetry.
Symmetry of Functions axes of symmetry of common regular shapes StudySmarter
This idea of reflective symmetry can be applied to the graphs of functions, too!
Whether a function is even or odd is a property that is related to its symmetry. This property makes dealing with functions a bit easier because it helps us graph them.
There are four states of classification for even and odd functions:
There are two ways we can check if a function is even, odd, or neither:
Even and odd functions got their name from the fact that the power function, which is a monomial function of the form: is an even function if is even, and it is an odd function if is odd.
But, an exponent does not always mean a function is even or odd! For instance, the function f(x)=(x+1)^2 is not an even function, and the function f(x)=(x^3)+1 is not an odd function! We can verify this by using the definition for even and odd functions below.
In general, we consider functions to be even, odd, or neither. To determine whether a function, , is even or odd, all we need to do is plug in for and check the output value of .
Consider the real-valued function .
If a real-valued function satisfies for every number in its domain, then it is an even function.
Put simply, if we replace every number with , and we get the same result, the function is even.
Consider the real-valued function .
If a real-valued function satisfies for every number in its domain, then it is an odd function.
Put simply, if we replace every number with , and we get the negative version of the same result, the function is odd.
The visual cue that a function is even is that its graph is symmetric with respect to the y-axis. What does that mean, exactly? It means that we can think of the y-axis as a mirror, or the axis of symmetry: what is on one side of the y-axis is reflected over to the other side. In other words, if we had the graph of an even function on a piece of paper, and we folded that paper along the y-axis of the graph, the two sides of the function would perfectly overlap each other.
The function is even because:
The visual cue that a function is odd is that its graph is symmetric with respect to the origin. What does that mean, exactly? It means that if we reflect the graph of the function over both the x- and y-axes, it would look exactly the same as it did before we reflected it. In other words, if we had the graph of an odd function on a piece of paper, we could rotate that paper 180° (using the origin point of the graph as the point of rotation) and we would get the original graph.
The function is odd because:
There are several properties of even and odd functions that will help us out in AP Calculus.
Sum and difference properties:
Product and quotient properties:
Composition properties:
Most functions we encounter in AP Calculus are neither even nor odd. A real-valued function that meets neither the even nor the odd requirements is considered to be neither even nor odd.
Consider the function:
If we plug in for we get:
Since the output of is neither nor , the function is neither even nor odd.
The Zero Function: it's both Even and Odd
A real-valued function is called both even and odd if it satisfies both and for all values of in the domain of .
There is only one function that is both even and odd, and that is the zero function: .
Why is this?
We know that for the zero function, , for all values of . This is because -0 is considered the same as 0.
Therefore, is both an even and odd function.
Determine whether the function is even, odd, or neither.
Solution:
Determine whether the function is even, odd, or neither.
Determine whether the rational function is even, odd, or neither.
Solution:
The most common function used to describe an axis of symmetry is the parabola. The parabola is a quadratic function with a U-shaped graph whose axis of symmetry is a vertical line drawn through its vertex (the highest or lowest point on the graph).
A parabola has one axis of symmetry, and we can use that to determine the orientation of the parabola:
A note on horizontal (or sideways) parabolas:
If we remember from our Functions article: just because we can graph something, that doesn't mean it is a function. While a parabola that opens up or down is a function, a parabola that opens to the left or right is not a function.
Can you remember why this is the case?
It's because horizontal parabolas fail the vertical line test! This means a left/right opening parabola is a relation, not a function.
BUT...
Any shape (think squares, circles, triangles, stars, etc.) can still have an axis (or axes) of symmetry, even if they aren't functions!
So, even though horizontal parabolas aren't functions, they do still have an axis of symmetry. In this case, the axis of symmetry is the horizontal line through its vertex, instead of the vertical line through its vertex like the up/down opening parabola.
If the vertex is the point where the axis of symmetry intersects a parabola, can we figure out how to come up with the equation for a parabola's axis of symmetry? Well, let's start with what we know:
Based on this, we can infer:
Since a vertical parabola is a function, we can use a formula to find the axis of symmetry. This formula for an axis of symmetry can take two forms:
The standard form quadratic equation is:
where a, b, and c are real numbers.
We can find a parabola's axis of symmetry based on its quadratic equation by using this formula:
If we write the quadratic equation of a parabola in vertex form, we get:
where is the vertex of the parabola.
This makes the formula for the axis of symmetry very simple:
since in vertex form, the vertex and axis of symmetry lie on the same line!
If we write the quadratic equation of a parabola in factored form, we get:
where p and q are the zeros (the points where the parabola crosses the x-axis) of the parabola.
Let's write the following in factored form:
Solution:
Axis of Symmetry: Derivation for a Parabola
Since the axis of symmetry always passes through the vertex of a parabola, finding the vertex is necessary for finding the axis of symmetry. For a vertical parabola, we know that the axis of symmetry formula is:
Now, let's understand why this is the case.
We know the quadratic formula for a parabola is:
where a, b, and c are real numbers.
The term c is a constant that doesn't affect the parabola, so we can just consider the formula:
We know the axis of symmetry must pass through the vertex, but how do we find the vertex?
Well, since the axis of symmetry cuts the parabola into two equal halves, we need to do two things:
To find the x-intercepts, substitute and solve for x:
To find the midpoint between the x-intercepts, plug both values of x into the midpoint formula:
and solve for x:
Given the quadratic equation:
Find the axis of symmetry.
Solution:
This equation is in standard form, so we can gather that:
Using the axis of symmetry formula:
So, plugging in the values for a and b, we get:
Therefore, the axis of symmetry is the vertical line:
Given the quadratic equation:
Find the axis of symmetry.
Solution:
We know that:
Using the axis of symmetry formula:
So, plugging in the values for a and b, we get:
Therefore, the axis of symmetry is the vertical line:
Given the quadratic equation:
Find the axis of symmetry.
Solution:
Since the quadratic equation is in vertex form, we know that:
So, the vertex of the parabola is:
Therefore, the axis of symmetry is the vertical line:
The six main trig functions all have properties of symmetry that are helpful for both understanding and evaluating them. All of them are either even or odd functions, and they have symmetry between angles.
The 6 main trig functions:
have even or odd properties that can be determined using the unit circle.
To figure out whether a trig function is even or odd, we look at which of the trig functions have positive values in each quadrant of the unit circle:
Because and its reciprocal, are positive in both Quadrant I and Quadrant IV of the unit circle, we know that and , so they satisfy the requirement to be even functions.
Because and and their reciprocals, and are positive in Quadrant I but negative in Quadrant IV of the unit circle, we know that , so they satisfy the requirement to be odd functions.
Remember the periodic and cofunction trig identities from our Manipulating Functions article? These identities show how the trig functions have symmetry based on what angle for we use with the function. They also can be quite helpful when simplifying problems in AP Calculus.
Now let's take this idea and expand on it a little bit. If we examine the unit circle again, we can see that more properties of symmetry for the trigonometric functions can be established.
What this is showing is that when we use certain angles for with the trig functions, the result is often one of the other trig functions! This leads us to find the following identities:
Reflected in θ = 0 | Reflected in θ = π/4 (cofunction identities) | Reflected in θ = π/2 |
The sign in front of the trig function does not necessarily indicate the sign of the value of the function. For instance, +cos(θ) doesn't always mean that cos(θ) is positive. In fact, if θ = π, +cos(θ) = -1.
It is also helpful to know that if we shift a trig function by certain angles, it is very likely that we can find a different trig function to express the result more simply. Common examples of this are shifting by radians. Because the periods of the trig functions are either , there are several cases where the new function is the same as the old function! Let's take a look at these shifts:
Shift of π/2 radians | Shift of π radians | Shift of 2π radians |
Another way of looking at the symmetries of trig functions is summarized in the table below.
Case | Relationship between angles A and B | Diagram | Conclusion |
1 | The angles differ by a multiple of 360°. | Since and are coterminal, they share the same value of cosine and sine. | |
2 | The angles differ by an odd multiple of 180°. | Since and have terminal sides in diagonally opposite quadrants, both cosine and sine change sign. | |
3 | The sum of the angles is a multiple of 360°. | Since and lie in vertically adjacent quadrants, the cosine values are the same, but the sine values are opposite. | |
4 | The sum of the angles is an odd multiple of 180°. | Since and lie in horizontally adjacent quadrants, the cosine values are opposite but the sine values are the same. |
Determine whether the function is even, odd, or neither.
Solution:
Verification:
Determine whether the function is even, odd, or neither.
Solution:
What is the relationship between ?
Solution:
Therefore,
This shows that the period of the tangent function is .
Symmetry of a function is associated with whether it is even, odd, both, or neither.
There are a few properties you can use to find, determine, or test for symmetry of a function.
You can also find the symmetry of a function algebraically.
You can find the symmetry of a rational function algebraically.
You can identify the axis of symmetry of a function either graphically or algebraically.
To identify the axis of symmetry of a function graphically, you must sketch the graph and look for the line of symmetry.
To identify the axis of symmetry of a function algebraically, there are a few methods.
What is the Axis (or Line) of Symmetry?
The Axis (or Line) of Symmetry is the line that passes through the center of a shape and divides it into identical halves, so that one half is the mirror-image of the other half.
What is an even function?
If a function has even symmetry, that means it is symmetrical with respect to the y-axis.
What is an odd function?
If a function has odd symmetry, that means it is symmetrical with respect to the origin.
What are the two ways to check if a function is even or odd?
Graphically and Algebraically
True or False?
Most functions are neither even nor odd.
True
Which of the following is the only function that is both even and odd?
The zero function
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