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Describe

Afrikaans: Beskryf

Use words to explain a mathematical relationship, transformation, or property, not a calculation or a diagram. The answer must be a sentence or phrase that a reader could understand without seeing your diagram or working.

Common mistake

Drawing a diagram or performing a calculation instead of writing a worded description. In transformation questions, a vague word ('it moves') scores zero, you need the specific mathematical language: the type of transformation, the direction and magnitude (for translations and reflections), or the centre and scale factor (for enlargements). If the question asks you to describe the relationship between two quantities, a formula alone is not a description, a sentence explaining what the formula means is.

Signal phrases

These are the words that tell you this instruction is being used.

  • Describe the transformation that maps f onto g
  • Describe the relationship between...
  • Describe the effect on the graph if...

Past paper examples

Describe the transformation that maps f onto g.

Source: DBE Mathematics Paper 2, November 2022, Question 7.2

Test yourself

Before you read the answer, what is this question asking you to do?

f(x) = x² and g(x) = x² + 3. Describe the transformation that maps the graph of f onto the graph of g.

Practice question: not from a past paper

Where this comes up