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SC1 Worksheet

This document provides instructions and practice problems for a small class on rational functions. Students will work in teams to sketch graphs of various rational functions by considering their behavior for small and large x. They will explore how the denominator behaves for very small and very large x to help sketch the overall shape of the graph. The questions are graded based on their difficulty level and provide hints for sketching more complex functions.

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mahmud
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12 views

SC1 Worksheet

This document provides instructions and practice problems for a small class on rational functions. Students will work in teams to sketch graphs of various rational functions by considering their behavior for small and large x. They will explore how the denominator behaves for very small and very large x to help sketch the overall shape of the graph. The questions are graded based on their difficulty level and provide hints for sketching more complex functions.

Uploaded by

mahmud
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SMALL CLASS: Combinations of familiar functions

In this class, you will establish teams and work on understanding the “asymptotics” of functions. In par-
n
Ax
ticular, you will sketch rational functions of the form B+x n (“Hill functions”) by considering behaviour for

small x and large x.

Small class questions


1. The scribe’s role is to do the writing and record the answers.
Nominate a team member to be the scribe. As you work through a worksheet, the scribe role must
rotate from question to question, repeating only after every team member has taken a turn.
Your team may also wish to have other roles. For example, the manager ’s role is to keep the team on
task (“Okay, what’s next?”); the skeptic’s role is to question the team’s answer to make sure it is sound
3
(“How do we know that x is small?”).
2. Your team name is an adjective that describes calculus, plus an interesting category your team members
are all part of (e.g. “Glorious Vegans”). Come up with your team name and write it in the box below.

Team name:

Scribe:

Almost all small class questions will have a box like this. Your “tidied” answer should go in the box,
and you can use the margins and other empty space on each page for rough work.
3. Consider the function
f (x) =
3
5x
, x ≥ 0.
9 + x3
What function does the denominator behave like for very small x?

Answer:

Scribe:

4. What function does the denominator behave like for very large x?

Answer:

Scribe:

5. Using your two answers above, sketch the graph of f (x).

Answer:

Scribe:
6. (★☆☆☆) Sketch the graph of f (x) =
4
6x
, x ≥ 0.
16 + x4

Answer:

Scribe:

The “★☆☆☆” notation indicates that this question is exam-suitable. See the Canvas course page
for a description of what the stars mean. (In this case, it means that you must eventually be able to do
such questions in under two minutes without expending much mental energy).
7. (Key concept) Consider a rational function of the form f (x) = B+x
n
Ax
n where A and B are nonzero

constants. What function does f (x) resemble near the origin? What function does f (x) resemble far
from the origin?

Answer:

Scribe:

The “Key concept” notation indicates that a question summarizes an important idea. Being able to
explain key concepts in plain English is a crucial ingredient of success in this course.
8. The following table will normally be at the top of your small class worksheet. In it, write down the
student numbers and names of all contributing team members — that is, members who took their turn
as scribe, and contributed by participating actively throughout the small class.

Student number Last name First name


Practice questions

The questions below are for practice. They do not contribute to your grade, and it is not expected that you
complete them during your small class. However, you are strongly encouraged to work through them.

9. (★☆☆☆) Sketch the graph of f (x) =


x
.
1 + x2
Hint: What function does the denominator behave like for very small x? What function does it behave
like for very large x? What function does f (x) resemble near the origin? What function does f (x)
resemble far from the origin?

10. (★☆☆☆) Sketch the graph of f (x) =


1
.
ex + 1
11. (★☆☆☆) Sketch the graph of f (x) = e cos x.
x

x
Hint: Sketch the graph of e first. What is the effect of multiplying by cos(x)?

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