Given : On a coordinate plane,a curved line with 3 arcs, lab led f of x, crosses the x-axis at (negative 2,0), (negative 1,0), (1,0), and (3,0) and the y axis at (0, negative 6).
To find: f when x = 0. i.e. f (0).
Solution: since the graph has 3 arcs and 4 solutions, it can be visualized as the follows: Between each solution, the function has to increase and decrease giving arcs in between. 1. One of the arcs is between (negative 2,0) and negative (1,0) 2. Second arc is between (negative 1,0) and (1,0) -this arc cuts the y axis, since x= 0 lies between x= -1 & x=1- 3. Third arc is between (1,0) and (3,0) Therefore only the 2nd arc cuts the y axis It’s given that the curve cuts the y axis at (0, -6) That is when x= 0, f(0) =-6 Therefore the value of f (0) is -6 only.
