Lesson 4

You saw in Try This 3 that to graph the reciprocal of the function y = f(x), you can plot  for every point (x, y) on the original function. One way to do this is by using a table as you did in Try This 3. There are some disadvantages to using a table or plotting the reciprocal of each individual point. When using a table, for example, it may be necessary to plot more than a dozen points before a trend can be detected. A more efficient method is based on the patterns that you detected earlier in the lesson.

 

Retrieve your results from the Discover section. Answer the following questions based on your results.

 

Self-Check 2

1. Which of the numbers below are identical to their reciprocals?
   
   
   1. −1
      
      
   2. 0
      
      
   3. 1
      
      
   4. 2
      
      
   Answer
   
   
2. If a set of numbers is arranged from least to greatest, how would the values of the corresponding reciprocals be arranged?
   
   
   1. least to greatest
      
      
   2. greatest to least
      
      
   Answer
   
   
3. What is the reciprocal of zero?
   
   
   1. undefined
      
      
   2. zero
      
      
   3. 1
      
      
   4. −1
   
   Answer