Drawing functions in R with the curve function

The `curve` function

In base R it is possible to draw a function with curve. By default the function will be plotted between 0 and 1 but you can change this range with from and to.

# Function
fun <- function(x) {
  sin(sqrt(x ^ 2))
}

# Plot
curve(fun, from = -7, to = 7)

Example of the curve function in R

Note that curve function is very useful for plotting functions such as dnorm, dexp, cos, sin, among others.

Curve customization

curve function customization

The output of the curve function can be customized the same way as other base R plots. You can change the color, the line width or the line type, among other customizations.

# Function
fun <- function(x) {
  sin(sqrt(x ^ 2))
}

# Plot
curve(fun, from = -7, to = 7,
      col = 2, lwd = 3)

Curve types

There are several line types available, which can be selected with type argument. In the following blocks of code we show a pair of examples.

Line and points

# Function
fun <- function(x) {
  sin(sqrt(x ^ 2))
}

# Plot
curve(fun, from = -7, to = 7,
      type = "o")

curve function with lines and points in R

Stairs plot

# Function
fun <- function(x) {
  sin(sqrt(x ^ 2))
}

# Plot
curve(fun, from = -7, to = 7,
      type = "s")

Stairs plot curve R

Histogram-like

# Function
fun <- function(x) {
  sin(sqrt(x ^ 2))
}

# Plot
curve(fun, from = -7, to = 7,
      type = "h")

Histogram-like curve

Add curves

Add curve to existing plot in R

You can also add multiple curves on the same plot setting add = TRUE on the second and posterior functions.

# Function
fun <- function(x) {
  sin(sqrt(x ^ 2))
}

# Plot
curve(fun, from = -7, to = 7,
      col = 2, lwd = 3)
curve(cos, col = 4, lwd = 3,
      add = TRUE)