CURVE SKETCHING II

(GRAPHS OF RATIONAL FUNCTIONS)

In an earlier introduction to differentiation, (gradient of a curve), we looked at an
analytical approach to sketching graphs of polynomial functions. The main
requirements were basically;

 Turning points
 Nature of turning points (maxima or minima)
 Intercepts

In this section however, we seek to advance to sketching graphs of fractional

functions; functions of the form .

Basic requirements will include the following:

1. Intercepts. They are the usual values at which the graph of the function

crosses the axes, i.e. on the vertical axis and on the

horizontal axis.
2. The range of values for which the function will exist.
Rational functions, unlike polynomials are most likely discontinuous.
They’re either bounded within a given range and don’t exist out of this
range, or they are bound not to exist in a certain range. All this can be
determined using the concept discussed earlier on under inequalities to
bound functions, as illustrated in the following example.

Example 1. Find the range of values for which the function exists,
given that takes on only real values.

Solution:
Let , rearrange this into a quadratic equation in i.e.
.

Since it has been said that takes on real values, recall that the equation
has real roots only if

From our equation, this becomes which simplifies to

. The critical values for our solution are and . The
following is an investigative table.

– + +
– – +
– – +

Thus for real , we have and , i.e. and .

 N.B: If we were instead required to find the region for which the function
DOES NOT exist, it’d be the remaining set; i.e. .
Note also what was said earlier that the function only exists for some values
and not others.

Later on, we’ll see that the values and are very important, as they’ll
mostly represent the y coordinates of the turning points. In an event where one
value doesn’t, then it’ll represent a horizontal asymptote.

3. Asymptotes: Asymptotes can simply be defined as tangents to a curve at

infinity. On a curve sketch, they’re ALWAYS represented as broken lines.
They are of three types, viz;
 Vertical asymptotes
 Horizontal asymptotes
 Slanting asymptotes
(i) Vertical Asymptotes. These are obtained by solving the equation
, i.e. the values of for which the denominator is equal to 0.
The function is undefined for such values, and so the curve MUST
NEVER cross these asymptotes.
(ii) Horizontal Asymptotes. These values of are obtained by taking
limits of as . A single curve can only have one horizontal
asymptote. They only exist for proper functions, i.e. ones for which

.
Limits are taken after dividing through both numerator and
denominator by the highest power of in the denominator.
(iii) Slanting Asymptotes. These only exist for improper functions, i.e.

ones for which . Required is that we first

perform long division on the function, and the quotient becomes the
asymptote. These at times turn out to be other curves, depending on
the difference between the degrees. We shall only take a difference of
1 which yields straight lines.

Note the following:

 Slanting and horizontal cannot exist simultaneously for the same

curve. A curve either has a slanting or horizontal asymptote, but not
both.
 Vertical and slanting asymptotes are never likely to be crossed by the
curve, however much the horizontal ones may cross.
  To better predetermine the shape of the graph, shade off the unwanted
regions, where the curve is expected not to exist. This can be guided
by the intercepts and asymptotes.

Example 2: Find the range of values for which the function does
not exist for real values of ; and hence

(i) Deduce the turning points of the graph of .

(ii) State all the asymptotes of the of the curve.
(iii) Sketch the graph of .

Solution: Let , which on rearranging yields the quadratic

equation

For curve not to exist, the above equation must have imaginary roots; i.e.

The critical values for our solution are and .

Investigating;

– – +
– + +
+ – +

Thus the function does not take on values between and 3.

Turning points: As said earlier, the values and are the coordinates
at the turning points.

At , we have . Thus one turning point is

At , we have . Thus another turning point

is .

 Please note that the approach of also gives similar results and is just
another acceptable alternative.

Vertical asymptotes: Denominator = 0 i.e. are the

vertical asymptotes.

Since the function is proper, we expect a horizontal asymptote. Dividing through

by which is the highest power in the denominator gives

and as is the horizontal asymptote.

Intercepts: axis, y = 0 . Thus the curve crosses at ,

and since is a vertical asymptote, the curve doesn’t have any intercept on the
axis.
At this instant we are ready to sketch our curve.

Example 3: Find the range of values of for which the curve

exists for real values of and hence sketch the curve.
Solution: can be rearranged into a quadratic equation in , i.e.

For the curve to exist for real , then which on simplifying

becomes

This gives critical values and .

– + +
– – +
+ – +

Thus the curve exists for values and . (i.e. the curve does not exist for

Turning points are at and . At , we have is a

turning point.

Substituting however does not give a value for and hence there is no
turning point at (This implies directly that is the horizontal asymptote)
Intercepts: On the – axis, . Thus the curve

crosses at points and .

Vertical asymptotes; Denominator = 0 are the

vertical asymptotes.

Horizontal Asymptote; Divide through numerator and denominator by ; i.e.

Limiting as gives as the horizontal asymptote.

Sketch:
Example 4: Show that the curve does not have stationary
points, and hence sketch the curve.

Solution: can be rearranged to form a quadratic in ,

i.e.

For the curve not to have turning points (or to exist for all values of , we require
that the equation has no real roots, i.e.

From the above equation, hence no real roots for the equation,
which in turn implies the curve has no stationary points.

Alternatively, one can choose to approach this by showing that the equation

has no real roots.

Intercepts: On the axis, . Thus the curve

crosses at and .

On the axis, , thus the curve crosses at

Vertical asymptotes; are the vertical

asymptotes.
Horizontal asymptote; Dividing through denominator and numerator by gives
In the limit as , we have that is the horizontal asymptote.
The following table will help determine the shape taken on by the curve by shading
off unwanted regions on the grid.
Critical values used are Denominator = 0 and Numerator = 0, i.e.

– – + + +
– – – – +
– – – + +
– + + + +
+ – + – +
Example 5: A curve has the equation . Show that this curve does not
have values of outside the range , and hence sketch the curve.
State any asymptote(s) of the curve.

Solution: can be written as

For the curve to exist for real ,

Critical values are and .

+ + –
– + +
– + –

Thus for real , the curve only exists on the range .

Vertical asymptotes: Denominator = 0 there are no vertical

asymptotes since we have no real roots.

Horizontal asymptote: Dividing through by gives

Thus is the horizontal asymptote.

Turning points exist at and .

At ; Thus the turning point is .

At ; ; thus the turning point is .

NOTE that such curves as this one are bounded within a certain range (as
shown above).

Sketch :
Example 6: Sketch the graph of clearly showing all asymptotes
and stationary points.

Solution: Following the above procedures on obtaining turning points, we’ll

find that;

 The curve does not have values of between –5.83 and –0.17

 The turning points are and .

Vertical asymptote; We have is the vertical asymptote.

As we can see, the fraction is improper, and so we should expect a slanting

asymptote other than a horizontal one. Performing long division gives the
following;

Thus we have , and taking limits; we have that as .

Therefore we have the line as the slanting asymptote.

Intercepts: On the axis, and so the curve crosses at and .

On the axis, and so the curve crosses at .

The sketch follows below;

 x3
y=
Example 7 Sketch the curve 9 − x 2 , clearly stating the asymptotes.
Solution:

Intercepts: when y = 0, x = 0 so, ( 0 , 0 ) , thus curve crosses the

axes at origin.
 Vertical asymptotes: 9 − x 2 = 0 , so vertical asymptotes at
x = −3 , x = 3

To find the slant asymptotes: we perform long division:

9x
y =− x +
We get 9 − x 2 , thus as x → ± ∞ , y → −x , so
the line y =− x is the slant asymptote.
dy
=0
For the turning points, we have dx ,
dy 3 x ( 9 − x ) − x .−2 x
2 2 3
= =0
dx ( 9 − x 2)2
27 x 2 − 3 x 4 + 2 x 4 = 0 , x 2 ( 27 − x 2 ) = 0 these occur when x = 0 ,
x = ± √27 ,
x = 0, y = 0 , x = 3 √3, y =−7.794 , x =−3 √ 3, y = 7.794

i.e curve has a local minimum at (−5 .196 , 7 .794 ) and a local maximum at
( 5 .196 , −7 . 794 ) and a point of inflexion at ( 0 , 0 )