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Rational Functions

This document provides steps for graphing rational functions, including identifying zeros and asymptotes, graphing the branches between these points and determining their behavior, and checking for discontinuities. Students are instructed to follow all six steps: find zeros and asymptotes, sketch the graph, determine the curve of each branch using numerical methods, find any holes in the graph, and label points if not providing a scale.

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Jose Rodrigues
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
0% found this document useful (0 votes)
17 views

Rational Functions

This document provides steps for graphing rational functions, including identifying zeros and asymptotes, graphing the branches between these points and determining their behavior, and checking for discontinuities. Students are instructed to follow all six steps: find zeros and asymptotes, sketch the graph, determine the curve of each branch using numerical methods, find any holes in the graph, and label points if not providing a scale.

Uploaded by

Jose Rodrigues
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Graphing Rational Functions

Please follow all of these steps whenever you graph a rational function in this class.
(1) Identify the zeros of the function. Identify how many real zeros and how many imaginary
zeros the function must have (use the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra).
(2) Identify any vertical, horizontal, and oblique (slant) asymptotes of the function. Label
these on the graph with a dotted line.
(3) Graph the rational function, and indicate the end behavior of each branch of the function.
(4) When graphing the branches of each graph, use numerical methods to determine the
appropriate curve. (For instance, sometimes the zeros and asymptotes alone wont tell
you whether a portion of the graphic is parabolic or cubic).
(5) Determine if there are any removal discontinuities (holes in the graph). These can usually
be found by factoring and simplifying the original function.
(6) If you provide a scale, you do not have to label your points. If you dont provide a scale
on your graph (i.e. the increments on the axes), then please label the points. Realize that
your graph might get a little too busy.

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