How many times can a horizontal line intersect the graph

Bergen

Bergen

Answered question

2021-08-12

How many times can a horizontal line intersect the graph of a function that is one-to-one?

Answer & Explanation

toroztatG

toroztatG

Skilled2021-08-13Added 98 answers

Suppose f is an one-to-one function.
If (a,b) lies in the graph of f, then there does not exists any x with x!=a such that (x,b) also lies in the graph of f (because f is one-to-one).
This means if f is one-to-one, then a horizontal line intersect the graph of f at most once.
Thus a horizontal line intersect the graph of an one-to-one function at most once.
RizerMix

RizerMix

Expert2023-06-14Added 656 answers

To solve the problem, let's consider a function f(x) that is one-to-one. In order to find how many times a horizontal line intersects the graph of this function, we need to analyze the behavior of the function.
Since f(x) is one-to-one, it means that for every x1 and x2 in the domain of f(x), if x1x2, then f(x1)f(x2). In other words, the function assigns a unique value to each input.
Now, let's focus on the horizontal line intersecting the graph of f(x). We can represent this line as y=c, where c is a constant.
To find the points of intersection, we need to solve the equation f(x)=c. This means we are looking for values of x that satisfy f(x)=c.
If f(x)=c has a solution, it means that there exists an x such that f(x) is equal to the constant c. Since f(x) is one-to-one, there can be at most one solution for x.
Therefore, a horizontal line can intersect the graph of a one-to-one function at most once.
Don Sumner

Don Sumner

Skilled2023-06-14Added 184 answers

The number of intersections of a horizontal line with the graph of a one-to-one function can be represented by the equation:
n=0orn=1 where n represents the number of intersections.
Note: that in this context, n can either be 0 or 1, indicating that a horizontal line can intersect the graph of a one-to-one function either zero times or exactly once.
Vasquez

Vasquez

Expert2023-06-14Added 669 answers

Step 1:
Let f(x) be a one-to-one function. By definition, this means that for every x1 and x2 in the domain of the function, if f(x1)=f(x2), then x1=x2. In other words, no two distinct inputs can yield the same output.
Now, let's analyze the intersection of the graph of f(x) with a horizontal line at a specific value, c. This intersection occurs when there exists an x such that f(x)=c.
To find the number of intersections, we can set up the equation f(x)=c and solve for x. The number of solutions will give us the number of times the horizontal line intersects the graph.
Let's express this equation using LaTeX markup:
f(x)=c
Step 2:
Now, depending on the specific function f(x), the number of solutions to this equation can vary. It is possible to have zero, one, or multiple solutions.
- If there are no solutions, the horizontal line does not intersect the graph of f(x).
- If there is one solution, the horizontal line intersects the graph at a single point.
- If there are multiple solutions, the horizontal line intersects the graph at multiple points.
In conclusion, the number of times a horizontal line can intersect the graph of a one-to-one function can be zero, one, or multiple times, depending on the specific function and the value of the horizontal line.

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