Use the maximum, minimum, and zero options on your calculator.
Relative Minimum: (1,- 4) Zeros: (- 0.2491,0) and (1.6633,0)
Practice makes perfect
To draw the graph using a calculator, we first press Y= and type the function in one of the available rows. Having written the function, we can push the GRAPH button to see an image of it.
For this function, we are able to see the entire image in the standard viewing window, but we can zoom in to get a better view. Let's resize the window by pushing WINDOW and changing the minimum and maximum of our axes. We want all of the relative minimums, maximums, and zeros to be clearly shown.
Relative Maximum and Minimum
This function has one extreme, a relative minimum. To find the minimum, push 2nd, TRACE, and then choose the third option, minimum. Next, we need to choose a left bound and right bound for the minimum value. Finally, the calculator will ask for a guess of where the minimum might be.
The relative minimum is at (1,- 4).
Zeros
To find the zeros, we need to find the points at which the graph intersects the x-axis. This happens twice with this polynomial, so there are two zeros. To find a zero using the calculator, push 2nd, then TRACE, and choose the second option, zero. Once again, we need to choose bounds and make a guess for each zero.
