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Consider the curve h(x) = x² - 4. Which point on h(x) is closest to the point (-3, -4)?

a) (-2, 0)
b) (-3, 5)
c) (-4, 0)
d) (-1, 0)

1 Answer

4 votes

Final answer:

The point on the curve h(x) = x² - 4 that is closest to the point (-3, -4) is (-2, 0).

Step-by-step explanation:

The given curve is represented by the equation h(x) = x² - 4. To find the point on h(x) closest to the point (-3, -4), we need to find the point on the curve where the distance between the two points is minimized. This can be done by finding the x-coordinate of the point that minimizes the distance.

To find this, we can calculate the distance between the two points for each x-coordinate on the curve and find the minimum distance.

Substituting the values of x and y in the equation h(x) = x² - 4, we can calculate the distance for each x-coordinate and find the point that gives the minimum distance.

Calculating the distances for the given options, we find that the point (-2, 0) has the minimum distance to (-3, -4). Therefore, the answer is option a) (-2, 0).

User Kevnk
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