TITLE: How to find the phase shift of this cosine graph?
QUESTION [0 upvotes]: This graph is supposed to be of form $a\cos(bx+c)+d$. I'm pretty sure that $a$, the amplitude, is $|2|$ and $b$, the period ($\frac{2\pi}{b}$), is $\frac{2}{3}$ (though some confirmation would be nice).
However, I am not sure about the phase shift $(-\frac{c}{b})$ and also the vertical shift $(d)$. It seems odd to me how the lowest point pictured on the graph is $-1$ and the highest point is $4$. Would I just shift the whole graph down by $1$ to even things out? 
I looked at the graph $2\cos(\frac{2}{3}x)$ on WolframAlpha:http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=graph+2cos%28%5Cfrac%7B2%7D%7B3%7Dx, and the resulting graph looks like the graph pictured above reflected over the $x$ axis, so I am not sure what to do. Help would be appreciated.

REPLY [1 votes]: An easy way to find the vertical shift is to find the average of the maximum and the minimum. For cosine that is zero, but for your graph it is $\frac{-1+3}2=1$. Therefore the vertical shift, $d$, is $1$.
Notice that the amplitude is the maximum minus the average (or the average minus the minimum: the same thing). In your graph it is $3-1=2$ (or $1--1=2$), as you already knew. This gives us a check on both the vertical shift and the amplitude. By the way, $a$ could be the negative of the amplitude, though it is usually taken to be the amplitude.
The period is $\frac p{|b|}$, where $p$ is the period of the "base" function. The period of the graph is seen to be $3\pi$ and cosine's period is $2\pi$, so a positive value for $b$ is $\frac{2\pi}{3\pi}=\frac 23$. Note the period is not $b$ as you wrote. Again, $b$ could be negative but it is usually taken to be positive.
An easy way to find the phase shift for a cosine curve is to look at the $x$ value of the maximum point. For cosine it is zero, but for your graph it is $3\pi/2$. That is your phase shift (though you could also use $-3\pi/2$). By the way, the formula for phase shift is not $c$, but $-\frac cb$ to the right. This is easier to see if you rewrite the formula as
$$f(x)-d=a\cos\left[b\left(x--\frac cb \right)\right]$$
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