Knowing the basic function shapes for power functions and the absolute value function will be very helpful when you work on graphing piece wise defined functions in college algebra Use your college algebra notes or do a web search to find the graphs of each function below and copy down the shapes Power functions y xn Root functions y x x Reciprocal functions y x x n Absolute value function y x y x y x x a 11 AIX y x y x y x x y 2 y x y x 3 y x3 2