QuestionGive the equation of the oblique asymptote, if any, of the function.
Studdy Solution
STEP 1
What is this asking?
We need to find the equation of the oblique asymptote, which is a slanted straight line that the function gets really close to as becomes super large or super small.
Watch out!
Oblique asymptotes only happen when the degree of the numerator is *exactly* one more than the degree of the denominator.
Also, remember that an asymptote isn't part of the function itself, it's just a line that the function approaches.
STEP 2
1. Check the degrees
2. Polynomial long division
3. Identify the oblique asymptote
STEP 3
Let's look at our function .
The **highest power of** in the numerator, , is .
We call this the **degree of the numerator**.
STEP 4
The **highest power of** in the denominator, , is .
We call this the **degree of the denominator**.
STEP 5
For an oblique asymptote to exist, the degree of the numerator needs to be *exactly* one greater than the degree of the denominator.
Here, the degree of the numerator is and the degree of the denominator is .
Since is *not* one greater than , there is *no* oblique asymptote!
STEP 6
Even though we know there's no oblique asymptote, let's quickly see what would happen if we *did* polynomial long division.
We would rewrite our function to prepare for division: .
Notice how we added .
Adding zero doesn't change the value, but it helps keep things organized during the division.
STEP 7
If we were to perform the division, the result would be with a remainder of .
Since the quotient is , this further confirms that there's no oblique asymptote.
STEP 8
As we saw in the previous steps, the degrees of the numerator and denominator tell us there's no oblique asymptote, and the polynomial long division confirms this.
STEP 9
There is **no oblique asymptote** for the function .
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