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General Mathematics - M02 - L03 - WEEK 3
General Mathematics - M02 - L03 - WEEK 3
Solution:
Assign points on the Cartesian plane for each entry on the table of values above:
A(10,10) B(12,8.33) C (14,7.14) D(16,6.25) E(18,5.56) F (20,5)
For the 100-meter dash scenario, we have constructed a function of speed against
time, and represented our function with a table of values and a graph.
The previous example is based on a real world scenario and has limitations on the
values of the x-variable. For example, a runner cannot have negative time (which
would mean he is running backwards in time!), nor can he exceed the limits of human
physiology (can a person run 100-meters in 5 seconds?). However, we can apply the
skills of constructing tables of values and plotting graphs to observe the behavior of
rational functions.
x−1
Example 4: Represent the rational function given by f ( x )= using a table of
By connecting the points, we can see that they are not collinear but rather follows a x +1
smooth curve. values and plot a graph of the function by connecting points.
Solution:
Since we are now considering functions in general, we can find function values across
more values of x. Let us construct a table of values for some x-values from −10 to
10:
x −10 −8 −6 −4 −2 0 2 4 6 8 10
f ( x ) 1.22 1.29 1.4 1.67 3 −1 0.33 0.6 0.71 0.78 0.82
x 2−3 x−10
Example 5: Represent the rational function f ( x )= using a table of
x
values. Plot the points given in the table of values and sketch a graph by connecting
the points.
Solution:
As we have seen in the previous example, we will need to take a look at the x-values
which will make the denominator zero. In this function, x=0 will make the
denominator zero. Taking function values for integers in −6 ≤ x ≤ 10 , x ≠ 0 we get the
following table of values:
Connecting the points on this graph, we get: x −5 −4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
f (x) −6 −4.5 −2.67 0 6 −12 −6 −3.33 −1.5 0 1.33 2.57 3.75 4.89 6
Why would the graph unexpectedly break the smooth curve and jump from point E to
point F? The answer is that it doesn’t! Let us take a look at the function again:
x−1
f ( x )=
x +1
Observe that the function will be undefined at x=−1 . This means that there cannot
be a line connecting point E and point F as this implies that there is a point in the
graph of the function where x=1 .We will cover this aspect of graphs of rational
functions in a future lesson, so for now we just present a partial graph for the function
above as follows:
We connect the dots to sketch the graph, but we keep in mind that x=0 is not part of
the domain. For now we only connect those with values x ≤−1 and those with values
x ≥ 1.
Note that x=−2 and x=5 are zeroes of the rational function, which means that the
function value at these values is zero. These x-values give the x-intercepts of the
graph.
The behavior of the function near those values which make the function undefined
will be studied in the next few lessons.