One of the ways to graph this is to use plug in a few x-values and get an idea of the shape. Since the x values keep getting squared, there is an exponential increase on either side of the y-axis. You can see this by plugging in a few values:
When
x=0,f(x)=0
x=1,f(x)=1^2=1
x=2,f(x)=2^2=4
x=3,f(x)=3^2=9
x=4,f(x)=4^2=16
The same holds true for negative x-values to the left of the y-axis since a negative value squared is positive. For example,
x=−1,f(x)=(−1)2=1*−1=1
x=2,f(x)=(−2)2=−2*−2=4
The graph of f(x)=x^2 is called a "Parabola." It looks like this:
