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Can someone give me an equation that could generate the graph below?

enter image description here

An equation where as X decreases, Y approaches zero but will never reach zero.

Jean Marie
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Lan SJ
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  • An exponential graph? So y=2$^x$ – Jamminermit Sep 02 '19 at 13:56
  • I'm a decade out of school... thank you very much! That will help a lot. – Lan SJ Sep 02 '19 at 13:58
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    Where did this graph come from? Is it from an assignment? Was it "hand drawn" (maybe in a Paint-like software), or was it really generated from a function? Looking carefully, it seems that $y$ increases as $x$ decreases in the interval $x<-3$. – rafa11111 Sep 02 '19 at 16:13
  • I have taken the liberty to include your graphical representation into the body of your question and to modify your title so as, later on, people querying this kind of things will hopefuly find a hit on your question. – Jean Marie Sep 02 '19 at 16:44
  • @rafa11111 Good observation. Waiting for an answer from the OP. – Jean Marie Sep 02 '19 at 16:50

2 Answers2

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I disagree with the solution given by @Jamminermit. The given curve has visibly not an exponential equation : its right branch tends to be a line, i.e., the curve possesses a second asymptote, that an exponential hasn't.

A solution (hopefuly the simplest) consist in a branch of hyperbola with equation :

$$y=\tfrac12\left(\tfrac34x-2+\sqrt{1.76+(\tfrac34x-2)^2}\right)\tag{1}$$

Explanation of (1) : I have multiplied the LHS of the "estimated" two asymptotes' equations, i.e., $y=0$ and $y-\tfrac34x+2=0$ and computed the value of this product $y(y-\tfrac34x+2)$ in the midpoint $(x,y)=(0,0.2)$, giving implicit equation :

$$y(y-\tfrac34x+2)=0.44.$$

Then I have solved this quadratic in $y$, $x$ being considered as a parameter giving formula (1). If I had considered the other solution with a "minus" in front of the square root, we would have obtained the equation of the other branch (in red on the figure).

Remark : it would have been slightly simpler to express $x$ as a function of $y$ :

$$x=\frac43\left(y+2-\dfrac{0.44}{y}\right).$$

The picture below displays a very good agreement with yours. enter image description here

Jean Marie
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As mentioned in my comment above, you are looking at an exponential graph. These have the form $y=a^x$, where $a>0$.

A graph, where $a>1$, for example, $y=2^x$, will look similar to the image you linked.

A graph where $0<a<1$, for example $y=(1/2)^x$, will look like the image you linked, but reflected in the y-axis.

A special version of this graph is $y=e^x$ which looks similar to the others, but has special properties within calculus.

Finally, it is important to note, that all exponential graphs of the form $y=a^x$ will pass through the point $(0,1)$

I hope this answers your question, have fun.

Edit: On closer inspection, it seems like the graph you posted above does $not$ follow an exponential pattern as first thought, instead the other answers referring to this being a hyperbola seem to be correct (I am not too sure as I am not familiar enough with the topic). I therefore encourage the original poster to reconsider my answer as the accepted, and instead look to the answer referring to hyperbola. Nevertheless, I will leave this answer up here to hopefully give more information.

Jamminermit
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    Have you tried to plot the solution you propose ? It cannot be the good one because this function has visibly two asymptotes, whereas any exponential function has one asymptote and one "curved" branch without asymptote. See my answer. – Jean Marie Sep 02 '19 at 15:49
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    I had a look at your edit : fairplay attitude ! – Jean Marie Sep 02 '19 at 17:19