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19 votes
19 votes
Express your answer as a polynomial in standard form.

f(x) = x + 2
g(x) = 3x² + 6x - 8
Find: g(f(x))

User Vadzim Savenok
by
2.8k points

1 Answer

24 votes
24 votes

Answer:

g(f(x) = 3x² + 18x + 16

Explanation:

Definition of Composite Function

Given functions f(x) and g(x) , the composite function, g(f(x) is found by substituting f(x) for x in g(x)

In this particular instance we have

f(x) = x + 2

g(x) = 3x² + 6x - 8

g(f(x)) ==> g(x + 2)

For g(x) = 3x² + 6x - 8, substitute x with x + 2

so we get

g(x + 2) = 3(x + 2)² + 6(x + 2) - 8

Computing and simplifying each of the terms:

(x + 2)² = x² + 4x + 4 from (a + b)² = a² + 2ab + b²
3(x + 2)² = 3(x² + 4x + 4)

= 3x² + 12 x + 12

6(x + 2) = 6x + 12

Putting all this together,
3(x + 2)² + 6(x + 2) - 8

= (3x² + 12 x + 12) + (6x + 12) - 8

= 3x² + 12x + 6x + 12 + 12 -8

= 3x² + 18x + 16

g(f(x) = 3x² + 18x + 16 Answer

User Nurabha
by
3.0k points