MATH 12002 - CALCULUS I
§1.6: Vertical & Horizontal Asymptote Examples
Professor Donald L. White
Department of Mathematical Sciences
Kent State University
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Examples
Example
Find all vertical and horizontal asymptotes for the function
3x 2 + 2x + 7
f (x) = .
2x 2 − 8x − 10
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Examples
Solution
Horizontal Asymptotes:
Since f (x) is a rational function with numerator and denominator of the
same degree, the horizontal asymptote is the quotient of the leading
coefficients; that is, y = 3/2.
Vertical Asymptotes:
The denominator of f (x) is
2x 2 − 8x − 10 = 2(x 2 − 4x − 5) = 2(x + 1)(x − 5),
which is 0 when x = −1 or x = 5.
When x = −1, the numerator is 3(−1)2 + 2(−1) + 7 = 3 − 2 + 7 = 8 6= 0
and when x = 5, the numerator is
3(5)2 + 2(5) + 7 = 75 + 10 + 7 = 92 6= 0.
Hence the vertical asymptotes are x = −1 and x = 5.
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Examples
Example
Find all vertical and horizontal asymptotes for the function
9 − x2
f (x) = .
3x 2 − 3x − 18
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Examples
Solution
Horizontal Asymptotes:
Again f (x) is a rational function with numerator and denominator of the
same degree, and so the horizontal asymptote is the quotient of the
leading coefficients; that is, y = −1/3.
Vertical Asymptotes:
Observe that
9 − x2 (3 + x)(3 − x)
f (x) = 2
= ,
3x − 3x − 18 3(x + 2)(x − 3)
and so the denominator is 0 when x = −2 or x = 3.
When x = −2, the numerator is not 0, hence x = −2 is a vertical
asymptote.
[Continued →]
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Examples
Solution [continued]
However, when x = 3, the numerator is also 0, and in fact
(3 + x)(3 − x)
lim f (x) = lim
x→3 x→3 3(x + 2)(x − 3)
−(3 + x)(x − 3)
= lim
x→3 3(x + 2)(x − 3)
−(3 + x)
= lim , since x 6= 3,
x→3 3(x + 2)
−(3 + 3)
= lim
x→3 3(3 + 2)
−6 2
= = − 6= ±∞.
15 5
Therefore, x = 3 is NOT a vertical asymptote.
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