Precalculus Examples

$f (x) = {\begin{cases} {(x + 5)}^{2} - 3 & x \neq - 3 \\ - 4 & x = - 3 \end{cases}$ Find $f (- 3)$

Step 1

Identify the piece that describes the function at $x = - 3$ . In this case, $x = - 3$ falls within the interval $x = - 3$ , therefore use $- 4$ to evaluate $f (- 3)$ .

$f (x) = {\begin{cases} {(x + 5)}^{2} - 3 & x \neq - 3 \\ - 4 & x = - 3 \end{cases}$

Step 2

The function is equal to $- 4$ at $x = - 3$ .

$f (x) = - 4 (]_{x = - 3}^{})$

Step 3

Evaluate the function at $x = - 3$ .

$f (- 3) = - 4$