Tracing a Parabola Slide x to trace out the parabola y = x² point by point. y = x² x y −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 2 4 6 8 SLIDER x = −3.5 y VALUE y = 12.25 CURRENT POINT (−3.5, 12.25) Each x-value plugged into the equation gives one point on the parabola. Connect every point and you get the full curve — that's how a graph is built.
−3.5 +3.5