Examples of Transformations on a Graph

Examples of Transformations on a Graph (Video)
Examples of Transformations on a Graph Video

Hi, and welcome to this video lesson on rotation, translation, and reflection of objects on a plane.

Here’s our object. I want to rotate it on this plane, which is like a graph or a background.

A small right triangle shaded in purple is located in the first quadrant of an x-y coordinate plane.

If you think of rotating this object like you would a tire, that might help. If I want to rotate this picture, that means just spinning it around its center, like this. An image can be rotated from 0 to 360 degrees, like a circle.

Reflection is just like what it sounds: mirroring something. Take our image, and then decide which way we are going to reflect it. Perhaps to the left. Then, our reflection might look like this.

Graph showing two identical right triangles in purple, one in the second quadrant and one in the first quadrant, both with hypotenuses sloping downward toward the origin.

Usually in math, you are using a coordinate graph, so we might say the image is reflected across the \(y\)-axis, which is this vertical line here. Translation is not translating words into different languages, so don’t worry.

Mathematical translation simply means to move something. To make it travel, like this.

Two right triangles, one gray and one blue, are shown on a coordinate plane with the blue triangle shifted rightward from the gray triangle. An arrow indicates the direction of shift.

Translating this image to the right two spaces on the \(x\)-axis (this is the horizontal line) simply means moving it to the right two spaces.

All the different ways that we’ve moved or changed this object are called transformations. Now I’m going to give you a few examples and I want you to try to figure out how I transformed this specific object.

Here’s an image. How has it been transformed?

Two cats sit on a coordinate plane: a pink cat at (-2, 5) and a blue cat at (2, 5).

It’s been reflected across the \(y\)-axis, or this vertical line here. See?

Here’s another. How has it been transformed?

Two snails are on a coordinate grid; one pink snail at (-4, -3) and one blue snail at (2, -3).

Well, it’s been moved, or translated, to the left four spaces.

I hope that helps! Thanks for watching this video lesson, and until next time, happy studying!

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by Mometrix Test Preparation | Last Updated: April 27, 2026