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Determine f(-x). Given f(x) = -6ˣ⁵ + 9ˣ⁴ + 6ˣ³ - 6ˣ² - 36, find f(-x).

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Final answer:

To determine f(-x), substitute -x for each x in the given function and apply the power of a power rule to simplify. The signs of terms with odd exponents will change, resulting in f(-x) = 6x⁵ + 9x⁴ - 6x³ - 6x² - 36.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find f(-x) for the given function f(x) = -6x⁵ + 9x⁴ + 6x³ - 6x² - 36, we need to substitute -x for every instance of x in the function and simplify.

  1. Replace every x with -x.
  2. Apply the power of a power rule: (-x)^n = (-1)^n × x^n.
  3. Simplify the terms

The function f(-x) will become:

f(-x) = -6(-x)⁵ + 9(-x)⁴ + 6(-x)³ - 6(-x)² - 36

Now, calculate the powers:

f(-x) = -6(-1)⁵×x⁵ + 9(-1)⁴×x⁴ + 6(-1)³×x³ - 6(-1)²×x² - 36

f(-x) = -6(-1)x⁵ + 9(1)x⁴ + 6(-1)x³ - 6(1)x² - 36

f(-x) = 6x⁵ + 9x⁴ - 6x³ - 6x² - 36

As you can see, the sign of the term changes with odd exponents when substituting -x.

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