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algebra intermediate

Problem

In the graph of , let be the number of holes in the graph, be the number of vertical asympotes, be the number of horizontal asymptotes, and be the number of oblique asymptotes. Find .
Solution
We can factor the numerator and denominator to get In this representation we can immediately read that there is a hole at , and a vertical asymptote at . There are no more holes or vertical asymptotes, so and . If we cancel out the common factors we have We can write as which shows that as becomes very large, the graph tends towards , giving us a horizontal asymptote.

Since the graph cannot have more than one horizontal asymptote, or a horizontal asymptote and a slant asymptote, we have that and . Therefore,
Final answer
6