Chapter 1: Problem 4
Let \(f(x)=2 x^{2}+x-4\) and \(g(x)=3-x^{2} .\) Find the specified values. $$ (f / g)(-3) $$
Short Answer
Expert verified
\((f/g)(-3) = -\frac{11}{6}\).
Step by step solution
01
Understand the expression
We are asked to find \((f/g)(-3)\), which means we need to calculate the ratio of the function \(f(x)\) to \(g(x)\) evaluated at \(x = -3\).
02
Evaluate f(x) at x = -3
Substitute \(-3\) into \(f(x) = 2x^2 + x - 4\):\[ f(-3) = 2(-3)^2 + (-3) - 4 \]\[ = 2(9) - 3 - 4 \]\[ = 18 - 3 - 4 \]\[ = 11 \].
03
Evaluate g(x) at x = -3
Substitute \(-3\) into \(g(x) = 3 - x^2\):\[ g(-3) = 3 - (-3)^2 \]\[ = 3 - 9 \]\[ = -6 \].
04
Calculate (f/g)(-3)
Use the results from Steps 2 and 3 to compute \((f/g)(-3)\):\[ (f/g)(-3) = \frac{f(-3)}{g(-3)} = \frac{11}{-6} \]\[ = -\frac{11}{6} \].
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Key Concepts
These are the key concepts you need to understand to accurately answer the question.
Polynomial Functions
Polynomial functions are a fundamental part of algebra and calculus. They are expressions that consist of variables raised to whole number powers and are summed up together. For example, in a polynomial function like \(f(x) = 2x^2 + x - 4\), we have terms with different power of \(x\).Polynomials are incredibly useful because they can model a wide range of scenarios:
- Constant terms: These don't change with \(x\) and include numbers like \(-4\) in our function \(f(x)\).
- Linear terms: These involve \(x\) raised to the first power, such as \(x\) in our example.
- Quadratic terms: These are characterized by \(x\) squared, such as \(2x^2\).
Function Evaluation
Function evaluation is the process of finding the output of a function for a particular input. To evaluate, substitute the given value of \(x\) into the function expression, and perform the arithmetic operations as needed.Let's consider the problem where we evaluated \(f(x) = 2x^2 + x - 4\) at \(x = -3\):
- Substitute \(-3\) into \(f(x)\) to get \(f(-3) = 2(-3)^2 + (-3) - 4\).
- Calculate \(2(-3)^2\), which results in \(18\) since \((-3)^2\) is \(9\) and \(2 \times 9 = 18\).
- Then, compute \(18 - 3 = 15\).
- Lastly, perform \(15 - 4\) to get \(11\).
Rational Expressions
A rational expression is the quotient of two polynomial functions. In our exercise, we formed a rational expression by dividing \(f(x)\) by \(g(x)\) and evaluated it at \(x = -3\).Here's a brief guide to working with rational expressions:
- Identify the numerator and the denominator. Here, the numerator is \(f(x) = 2x^2 + x - 4\) and the denominator is \(g(x) = 3 - x^2\).
- Evaluate both the numerator and the denominator at the specified value of \(x\). This means you'll find \(f(-3)\) and \(g(-3)\) separately.
- Substitute these values into the rational expression: \(\frac{f(-3)}{g(-3)}\).
- Simplify the fraction. In our example, \(\frac{11}{-6}\) simplifies to \(-\frac{11}{6}\).