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In which direction does the left side of the graph of this function point?

f(x) = 3x^3– x^2 + 4x - 2

User NPehrsson
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1 Answer

7 votes

Answer:

Down.

Explanation:

ƒ(x) = 3x³ - x² + 4x - 2

"They" are asking you to determine the end behaviour of the function, that is, what happens to the function as x ⟶ -∞.

The important point to remember is that, when x is large enough, the term of highest degree (the x³ term) will be so large that you can ignore all the other terms.

If x is large and negative,

f(x) ≈ 3(-x)³ = 3(-1)³(x)³= -3x³

Thus, the graph is in the third quadrant and the graph points down.

The figure below shows the graph of your function. It points sharply down on the left-hand side.

In which direction does the left side of the graph of this function point? f(x) = 3x-example-1
User Buzzy
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