I’ve put together a bunch of screenshots I’ve taken from my TI-89 on the graphs of exponential functions, from y = x, y = x^2, …, y = x^10. The important thing to take from it is that when remembering how these functions look like:

• y = x is a line
• even exponents yield parabolas
• odd exponents yield cubic curves (“squigglies”)

This is very trivial knowledge, but I’m putting this up because graphs of functions tend to be one of those things that once learned, people toss aside by relying on their graphing calculators can do. And knowing this off-hand is good general knowledge, really. (I.e., determining if a function is injective or surjective without breaking a sweat.)