Name:_______________________

Date assigned:______________ Precalculus | Packer Collegiate Institute

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Rational Functions #3

Warm Up 1: Trifles Problem 1: When x is very, very large, what is the most important term of: f ( x) 0.5 x3 10 x 2 2 x 1

Problem 2: When x is very, very large, what is the most important term of: f ( x) 4 x3 x 4 2 x 2 20

Warm Up 2: Lets analyze three functions. Plug in a very large positive x-value, and a very large negative x-value into them! Lets find the end behavior!

a ( x)

x 1 x2 1

b( x )

2x 1 x5

c( x)

x5 1 x 1

a (1, 000) a (1, 000)

a( ) a ( )

b(1, 000) b(1, 000)

a( ) a ( )

c (1, 000) c ( 1, 000)

a( ) a ( )

Now lets look at very slight changes to these functions.

d ( x)

x3 x2 2

e( x)

2x 1 x3

f ( x)

x5 4 x2

I claim the end behavior will not really change if the functions were changed slightly. Explain.

Ponder this Were dealing with large positive and large negative numbers. Look at the numerator and denominator separately figure out which term in the numerator is the most important, when evaluated at large positive and large negative numbers? Similarly for the denominator Circle that term!

a ( x)

x 1 x2 1
x3 x2 2

b( x )

2x 1 x5
2x 1 x3

c( x)

x5 1 x 1

d ( x)

e( x)

f ( x)

x5 4 x2

Can you explain why a( x) and d ( x) both have an output close to 0 for large x-values?

Can you explain why b( x) and e( x) both have an output close to 2 for large x-values?

Can you explain why c( x) and f ( x) both have a huuuuuuge ouput for large x-values?

What might you expect the outputs be for the following rational functions, for large positive x-values? Large negative? Answer either with a number, or with a , or with a .

x6 2 p( x) x6
pos: neg:

5x6 2 a( x) 6 x 1
pos: neg:

5x6 2 c( x) 8 x 1
pos: neg:

k ( x)
pos:

5x 2 5x2 1
6

e( x )
neg: pos:

2 x 2 5 x3 1
6

r ( x)
neg: pos:

5 x 2 2 x6 1
6

neg:

Section 2: End Behavior Weve built up rational functions. Weve seen what strange things happen. We have vertical asymptotes and holes. There are just two more things that you need to investigate before we put everything together in one big giant ball of connected understanding: horizontal asymptotes and oblique asymptotes. On Geogebra, graph the following functions. Make sure you see whats happening for large positive and negative xvalues. If there is a horizontal asymptote, list it. If not, write none.

f ( x)

2x 2 x 1

HA:

g ( x)

x2 1 2 x 4 10 x2 1 2 x 2 10 x2 2x 1 5x 1

HA:

h( x )

x5 4 x 2 5 x7 7
4 x 2 1 2 x2 7 x4 2 x 1 2 x2 x 7

HA:

f ( x)

3x 2 1 x2 1 3x3 1 5x2 1

HA:

g ( x)

HA:

h( x )

HA:

f ( x)

HA:

g ( x)

HA:

h( x )

HA:

Section 3: Oblique Asymptotes

Above are two graphs. The left graph has one vertical asymptote, but also something called an oblique (or slant) asymptote. The right one has two vertical asymptotes, but it too has an oblique asymptote. Draw a dashed line on each illustrating the oblique asymptote.

5x2 2 x 1 25 Challenge: We can rewrite f ( x) as f ( x) 5 x 12 x2 x2 (a) Graph f ( x) on Geogebra. The oblique asymptote is y 5 x 12 . Graph that on the same Geogebra page. (b) What happens to f ( x) for large x-values? (Hint: Look at the second representation of f ( x) .)