Vertical and Horizontal Shifts of Quadratics Graphs
Adding or subtracting a positive constant k to f(x) is called a vertical shift.
Adding or subtracting a positive constant h to x is called a horizontal shift.
Vertical and horizontal shifts are summarized in the following table:
Type of Change |
Effect on y=f(x) |
y=f(x)+k |
vertical shift: k units up |
y=f(x)-k |
vertical shift: k units down |
y=f(x+h) |
horizontal shift: h units to left |
y=f(x-h) |
horizontal shift: h units to right |
 |
Basic parabola |
 |
|
 |
Vertical shift |
|
Horizontal shift |
