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algebra intermediate
Problem
Consider 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 see 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, our rational function simplifies to We see that as becomes very large, the term in the numerator will dominate. To be more precise, we can use polynomial division to write as from which we can see that for large the graph tends towards giving us an oblique asymptote.
Since the graph cannot have more than one oblique asymptote, or an oblique asymptote and a horizontal asymptote, we have that and . Therefore,
Since the graph cannot have more than one oblique asymptote, or an oblique asymptote and a horizontal asymptote, we have that and . Therefore,
Final answer
7