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algebra intermediate

Problem

Below are the graphs of two functions, and , defined on the domain :

problem


If the graph of is the dashed orange line, and the graph of is the solid green line, what is the largest value of ?
Solution
We can measure as the vertical distance between the two graphs at . The sign of is positive if , so we focus on the part of the graph where the dashed orange line lies above the solid dark green line. Within this part of the graph, the greatest vertical distance between the orange and green lines is (achieved for all from to ).
Final answer
4