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Mathematics 18 Online
OpenStudy (onepieceftw):

Need help with asymptotes. Can someone walk me through this? Give an example of a rational function that has no horizontal asymptote and a vertical asymptote at x = 1.

OpenStudy (misty1212):

HI!!

OpenStudy (misty1212):

if the vertical asympote is \(x=1\) that means the function is not defined at 1

OpenStudy (misty1212):

which basically means the denominator is 0 if \(x=1\)

OpenStudy (misty1212):

so guess what the denominator should be ?

OpenStudy (onepieceftw):

x-1?

OpenStudy (misty1212):

bingo

OpenStudy (misty1212):

now we have \[f(x)=\frac{\text{sommat}}{x-1}\] and we gotta figure out what is on top

OpenStudy (misty1212):

that has to do with the degree of the numerator vs the degree of the denominator

OpenStudy (onepieceftw):

The degree has to be higher in the numerator for there to be no horizontal asymtotes, right?

OpenStudy (misty1212):

exactly

OpenStudy (misty1212):

so you can put anything up top you like, so long at the degree is 2 or more

OpenStudy (onepieceftw):

Oh okay that makes sense, thanks!

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