RATIONAL FUNCTION

RATIONAL FUNCTION

✓ Find the domain and range of a rational

function

✓ Determine the intercepts, zeroes, and

asymptotes of a rational function
 RATIONAL FUNCTION

Recall 101

𝑷(𝒙)
𝒇(𝒙) = polynomial
𝑸(𝒙)
and Q(x) is not equal to zero
Recall 101

𝒙−𝟏 −𝟑
𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒚=
𝒙+𝟏 𝒙−𝟏
𝟑
−𝟏
𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒙
𝟐
−𝟓 𝟑
𝒙 −𝟑 𝒙 −𝒙+𝟐
𝒚= 𝒇 𝒙 =
𝒙+𝟑 𝒙+𝟓
• DOMAIN
• RANGE
• INTERCEPTS
• ZEROES
• ASYMPTOTES
• GRAPH
 DOMAIN
x - values
x - coordinate
input values
the set of all x that will make
the function defined.
 DOMAIN
𝒙−𝟏 𝒙+𝟏=𝟎
𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒙 = −𝟏
𝒙+𝟏

D: {x|x € ℝ, x ≠ −𝟏}

D: All real nos. except -1

 𝒙−𝟏 no x-variable on
𝒇(𝒙) = the denominator
𝟑

D: {x € ℝ}

D: All real nos.

 𝟑 𝒙+𝟏=𝟎 𝒙−𝟐=𝟎
𝒇(𝒙) =
(𝒙 + 𝟏)(𝒙 − 𝟐) 𝒙 = −𝟏 𝒙=𝟐

D: {x |x € ℝ, x ≠ −1 and 2}

D: All real nos. except -1 and 2

 𝟐
𝟑 𝒙 − 𝟔𝒙 + 𝟓
𝒇(𝒙) = 𝟐 (𝒙 − 𝟏)(𝒙 − 𝟓)
𝒙 − 𝟔𝒙 + 𝟓
𝒙−𝟏=𝟎 𝒙−𝟓=𝟎
𝒙=𝟏 𝒙=𝟓

D: {x |x € ℝ, x ≠ 1 and 5}

D: All real nos. except 1 and 5

 RANGE
f(x)
y - coordinate
output values
the set of all possible output values that the
function can produce
Steps in finding the range of a rational function

i. Let y = f(x)
ii. Solve for x in terms of y
iii. Find the value of y that makes the denominator not
equal to zero
iv. Write the range in rule form or in interval notation
Range

𝟓 𝟓
𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒚=
𝒙−𝟏 𝒙−𝟏

𝒚𝒙 − 𝒚 = 𝟓
𝒚=𝟎
𝒚𝒙 = 𝟓 + 𝒚
R: {x |x € ℝ, x ≠ 𝟎}
𝟓+𝒚
𝒙=
𝒚
Find the range or each rational function

𝒙+𝟐
𝒇(𝒙) =
𝒙+𝟏

𝟐𝒙 + 𝟖
𝒈(𝒙) =
𝒙+𝟐
 Seatwork.

Find the domain and range of each rational function

𝟑 𝟓𝒙
1. 𝒇(𝒙) = 3. 𝒇(𝒙) =
𝒙−𝟓 𝟐𝒙−𝟏

𝟒𝒙−𝟑
2. 𝒇(𝒙) =
𝟑𝒙−𝟐 4. 𝒇(𝒙) =
𝒙 𝟐𝒙−𝟓
ASYMPTOTE
a line that a curve approaches, as it heads towards
infinity.
Horizontal (HA)
The horizontal line y = b
is a horizontal asymptote
of the rational function iff
(x) gets closer to b as x
increases or decreases
without bound (x → +∞
or x → −∞).
How to determine the horizontal asymptote of a rational function?

By definition:

a. If n < m, then y = 0
b. If n> m, then there is no horizontal asymptote
𝒂
c. If n = m, then y = 𝒃

n – degree of the numerator

m – degree of the denominator
a – leading coefficient of the numerator
b – leading coefficient of the denominator
 𝒂
n<m, y = 0 n>m, HA: none n=m, y = 𝒃

𝟐
𝟒𝒙 + 𝟏 n=m, y =
𝒂
HA: y =
𝟒
𝒇(𝒙) = 𝟐
𝒃 𝟑
𝟑𝒙
𝟒 n<m HA: y = 0
𝒇(𝒙) =
𝒙−𝟕

𝟑
𝒙 −𝟏 n>m HA: none
𝒇(𝒙) = 𝟐
𝟑𝒙
Vertical (VA)
The vertical line x = a is a
vertical asymptote of a
rational function if the graph
either increases or decreases
without bound as the x-
values approach a from the
right or left.
 𝒙+𝟏
𝒇(𝒙) =
𝒙−𝟏
 𝟑
𝒇(𝒙) =
𝒙+𝟓
 𝒙−𝟑
𝒇(𝒙) =
(𝒙 − 𝟏)(𝒙 − 𝟐)
To find the vertical asymptote of a function, get the
value of x that will make the function undefined.
INTERCEPTS
a point where the
graph of the rational
function intersects
the x- or y-axis.
How to determine the y – intercept of a rational function?

y - intercept is the function value when x = 0

𝒙+𝟏
𝒇(𝒙) = evaluate the function at f(0)
𝒙−𝟏
𝟎+𝟏 𝟏 𝒇 𝟎 = −𝟏
𝒇(𝟎) = 𝒇(𝟎) =
𝟎−𝟏 −𝟏 y-int: (0,-1)
 𝒙+𝟏
𝒇(𝒙) =
𝒙−𝟏

y-int: (0,-1)
How to determine the x – intercept of a rational function?

is the value of x that makes the

x - intercept numerator equal to zero but not
the denominator
 𝒙+𝟏
𝒇(𝒙) = f(x) = 0
𝒙−𝟏
𝒙+𝟏
𝟎=
𝒙−𝟏
x-int: (-1,0)
𝟎=𝒙+𝟏
−𝟏 = 𝒙
 𝒙+𝟏
𝒇(𝒙) =
𝒙−𝟏

y-int: (0,-1)
x-int: (-1,0)
 HA VA x-intercept y-intercept

𝟏 y=0 x=0 none none

𝒇(𝒙) =
𝒙

𝒙−𝟔
𝒇(𝒙) = y=1 x = -2 (6, 0) (0, -3)
𝒙+𝟐

𝟑𝒙 + 𝟐 𝟐 𝟏
𝒇(𝒙) = y=3 x=4 (− 𝟑, 0) (0, − 𝟐)
𝒙−𝟒
RATIONAL FUNCTION