MATH1003 Tutorial 10
Asymptotes
To the graph of y = f (x),
• y = L is a horizontal asymptote if lim f (x) = L or lim f (x) = L
xæŒ xæ≠Œ
• x = c is a vertical asymptote if lim+ f (x) = ±Œ or lim f (x) = ±Œ
xæc xæc≠
n(x) an xn + an≠1 xn≠1 + · · · + a1 x + a0
Test for rational functions f (x) = = where an , bm ”= 0,
d(x) bm xm + bm≠1 xm≠1 + · · · + b1 x + b0
• If m > n, then y = 0 is a horizontal asymptote.
an
• If m = n, then y = is a horizontal asymptote.
bm
• If n > m, then there is no horizontal asymptote.
• If d(c) = 0 but n(c) ”= 0, then x = c is a vertical asymptote.
Procedure for Curve Sketching
To sketch the graph of y = f (x):
1. Identify the domain of f .
2. Find f Õ (x) and f ÕÕ (x).
3. Find critical values of f where f Õ (x) = 0 or f Õ (x) does not exist.
4. Determine intervals where f is increasing/decreasing by the sign of f Õ , identify the local extremum points.
5. Determine intervals where f is concave up/down by the sign of f ÕÕ , identify the inflection points.
6. Locate and plot asymptotes if any.
7. Plot the keypoints (local extremum points, inflection points, y-intercept, x-intercept) and connect the points
with appropriate shapes.
1
Example 1. Find all asymptotes of the graphs of
3 42/3
x2 ≠ 3 x Ô
(a) y = f (x) = , (b) y = g(x) = , (c) y = h(x) = xe≠x .
x≠2 x≠2
(a) Denote n(x) = x2 ≠ 3 and d(x) = x ≠ 2, then
deg(n(x)) = deg(x2 ≠ 3) = 2 > 1 = deg(x ≠ 2) = deg(d(x))
so y = f (x) has no horizontal asymptote.
More specifically,
x2 ≠ 3
lim =Œ
xæŒ x ≠ 2
and
x2 ≠ 3
lim = ≠Œ
xæ≠Œ x ≠ 2
d(2) = 0 but n(2) = 1 ”= 0, so x = 2 is a vertical asymptote.
More specifically,
x2 ≠ 3
lim+ = +Œ
xæ2 x≠2
since n(2) = 1 > 0 and x ≠ 2 > 0 when x > 2,
x2 ≠ 3
lim≠ = ≠Œ
xæ2 x≠2
since n(2) = 1 > 0 but x ≠ 2 < 0 when x < 2.
(b) Note that
x 1 1
lim = lim 2 = =1
x汌 x≠2 x汌 1≠ x
1≠0
and 12/3 = 1, so
3 42/3
x
lim =1
x汌 x≠2
and y = 1 is the horizontal asymptote.
Since 3 42/3 3 42/3
x x
lim = lim≠ =Œ
xæ2+ x≠2 xæ2 x≠2
x = 2 is a vertical asymptote.
Ô
(c) The function h(x) = xe≠x is continuous for all x Ø 0, so there is no vertical asymptote.
Since Ô
lim xe≠x = 0
xæŒ
(the reason is out of scope of this course), y = 0 is the horizontal asymptote.
2
x2 ≠ 3
Example 2. Sketch the graph of y = f (x) = .
x≠2
(From the tutorial last week)
f (x) is defined when x ”= 2.
Sign charts for f Õ (x) and f ÕÕ (x):
x x<1 1 1<x<2 2 2<x<3 3 x>3
f (x)
Õ
+ 0 ≠ ◊ ≠ 0 +
x x<2 2 x>2
f ÕÕ (x) ≠ ◊ +
Combining,
x x<1 1 1<x<2 2 2<x<3 3 x>3
f (x)
Õ
+ 0 ≠ ◊ ≠ 0 +
f ÕÕ (x) ≠ ◊ +
f (x) max. undefined min.
No horizontal asymptote, x = 2 is vertical asymptote.
Local maximum point: (1, f (1)) = (1, 2)
Local minimum point: (3, f (3)) = (3, 6)
No inflection point.
Ô Ô
x-intercept: ≠ 3 and 3, y-intercept: 32
1
x
−2 −1 1 2 3 4 5 6
3
3 42/3
x
Example 3. Sketch the graph of y = g(x) = .
x≠2
(From the tutorial last week)
g(x) is defined when x ”= 2.
Sign charts for g Õ (x) and g ÕÕ (x):
x x<0 0 0<x<2 2 x>2
g (x)
Õ
≠ ◊ + ◊ ≠
x x < 0 0 0 < x < 3 13 1 1
3 <x<2 2 x>2
g (x)
ÕÕ
≠ ◊ ≠ 0 + ◊ +
Combining,
x x<0 0 0 < x < 13 1
3
1
3 <x<2 2 x>2
g Õ (x) ≠ ◊ + ◊ ≠
g ÕÕ (x) ≠ ◊ ≠ 0 + ◊ +
g(x) min. infl. undefined
y = 1 is a horizontal asymptote, x = 2 is vertical asymptote.
No maximum point.
Local minimum point:
3 (0,4
g(0))3= (0, 0) 4 3 4
1 1 1 1 1
Inflection point: , g( ) = , ¥ , 0.342
3 3 3 52/3 3
x-intercept: 0, y-intercept: 0
1
x
−3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 5
−1
4
Ô
Example 4. Sketch the graph of y = h(x) = xe≠x .
(From the tutorial last week)
h(x) is defined only when x Ø 0.
Sign charts for hÕ (x) and hÕÕ (x):
x 0 < x < 12 12 x > 12
h (x)
Õ
+ 0 ≠
Ô Ô Ô
1+ 2 1+ 2 1+ 2
x 0<x< 2 2 x> 2
h (x)
ÕÕ
≠ 0 +
Combining, Ô Ô Ô
1 1 1 1+ 2 1+ 2 1+ 2
x 0<x< 2 2 2 <x< 2 2 x> 2
hÕ (x) + 0 ≠
hÕÕ (x) ≠ 0 +
h(x) max. infl.
y = 0 is the horizontal asymptote,
3 4 no 3
vertical asymptote.
4
1 1 1 1
Local maximum point: , h( ) = ,Ô ¥ (0.5, 0.429)
2 2 2 2e
Local minimum point: Ô (0, 0) Ô 44
3 3
1+ 2 1+ 2
Inflection point: ,h ¥ (1.207, 0.329)
2 2
x-intercept: 0, y-intercept: 0
1 2 3