What are the asymptotes and removable discontinuities, if any, of f(x)=(4x^4 - x^5) / x?

1 Answer
Dec 15, 2015

There is a hole at x=0

Explanation:

To begin, we must limit the function to ensure the denominator is not zero. The only excluded value in this case is x != 0. If we simplify under this assumption we get:

(4x^4 - x^5)/x=4x^3-x^4,x!=0

The resulting polynomial does not have any asymptotes, so only the hole at x=0 from the original function remains.

y=(4x^4 - x^5)/x
graph{(4x^4-x^5)/x [-10, 10, -5, 5]}

Though it isn't visible on the graph, the hole is still there and must be listed in the excluded values.