Calculate points for f(nx) when all that’s given for f(x) are arbitrary points

functionsgraphing-functionsrecreational-mathematics

If you have a point list for $f(x)$, how do you determine the point list for $f(nx)$?

The way I would have done it would be to plot the points for $f(x)$, identify the function and calculate the intercepts and offsets, and then plug in $(nx)$ into the function. The problem I have is that the point list seems completely arbitrary. Here's the question:

The table below shows the values for the function $y=f(x):$

\begin{array}{|c|c|} \hline x&y\\ \hline
-4&7\\ \hline
-1&-2\\ \hline 0&3\\ \hline 3&-4\\ \hline 6&5\\ \hline \end{array}

Complete the table for the function $y=f\left(\frac{1}{5}x\right)$.

The table that needs to be completed for $y=f\left(\frac{1}{5}x\right)$ is completely empty. It has 5 empty rows with two columns assigned for $x$ and $y$.

The plotted points draw a slanted W. I haven't been able to find any solution in Google because I'm not even sure what terms to search.

Best Answer

When the scaling factor augments $x$ (as in $f(nx)$ as opposed to $nf(x)$), you simply need to divide each $x$ by $n$ and keep the corresponding $y$ values the same. Essentially, the graph is compressed. If $0<|n|<1$, the graph gets stretched. If $|n|>1$, the graph gets compressed. If $n<0$, in addition to being compressed or stretched, the graph gets flipped horizontally. Particularly in your case:

\begin{array}{|c|c|} \hline x&y\\ \hline -20&7\\ \hline -5&-2\\ \hline 0&3\\ \hline 15&-4\\ \hline 30&5\\ \hline \end{array}

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