Question

How do you graph `y=x^2 - 2x - 1`?

Answer 1

`y=(x-1)^2-2`
(Graph below)

Explanation:

`y=x^2-2x-1`
Since this does not factor, you can put this into a more graph-friendly equation by completing the square.
`y=x^2-2x-1`
`y=(x^2-2x+1)-1-1`
`y=(x-1)^2-2`
The graph of this is a parabola with a vertex at `(1,-2)` and a "slope" of 1. graph{(x-1)^2-2 [-10, 10, -5, 5]}