How do you determine whether the graph of |x|=3y is symmetric with respect to the x axis, y axis or neither?

1 Answer
Feb 13, 2017

Symmetric to y-axis;
Not symmetric to x-axis

Explanation:

If a relationship is symmetric to the y-axis then every point (x,y) defined by that relationship is reflected through the y-axis as a point (x,y) which is also a member of that relationship.

That is if a relationship is symmetric to the y-axis, we can replace all occurrences of x with (x) and the relationship will remain the same.

Given the relationship: |x|=3y
since |x|=|x|
|x|=3yXXis identical toXX|x|=3y
and the relationship is symmetric to the y-axis

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Similarly, if a a relationship is symmetric to the x-axis, we can replace all occurrences of y with (y) and the relationship will remain the same.

Given the relationship: |x|=3y
we note that
|x|=3yXXis¬antabs(x)=-3(-y)=+3y#
so the relationship is not symmetric to the x-axis.

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