Finite Math Examples

$f (x) = \frac{x^{2}}{x^{2} - 5 x - 6}$

Step 1

Set the denominator in $\frac{x^{2}}{x^{2} - 5 x - 6}$ equal to $0$ to find where the expression is undefined.

$x^{2} - 5 x - 6 = 0$

Step 2

Solve for $x$ .

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Step 2.1

Factor $x^{2} - 5 x - 6$ using the AC method.

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Step 2.1.1

Consider the form $x^{2} + b x + c$ . Find a pair of integers whose product is $c$ and whose sum is $b$ . In this case, whose product is $- 6$ and whose sum is $- 5$ .

$- 6, 1$

Step 2.1.2

Write the factored form using these integers.

$(x - 6) (x + 1) = 0$

Step 2.2

If any individual factor on the left side of the equation is equal to $0$ , the entire expression will be equal to $0$ .

$x - 6 = 0$

$x + 1 = 0$

Step 2.3

Set $x - 6$ equal to $0$ and solve for $x$ .

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Step 2.3.1

Set $x - 6$ equal to $0$ .

$x - 6 = 0$

Step 2.3.2

Add $6$ to both sides of the equation.

$x = 6$

Step 2.4

Set $x + 1$ equal to $0$ and solve for $x$ .

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Step 2.4.1

Set $x + 1$ equal to $0$ .

$x + 1 = 0$

Step 2.4.2

Subtract $1$ from both sides of the equation.

$x = - 1$

Step 2.5

The final solution is all the values that make $(x - 6) (x + 1) = 0$ true.

$x = 6, - 1$

Step 3

The domain is all values of $x$ that make the expression defined.

Interval Notation:

$(- \infty, - 1) \cup (- 1, 6) \cup (6, \infty)$

Set-Builder Notation:

${x | x \neq - 1, 6}$

Step 4