Question

The function f(x) = 16.4x + 2 is used by a construction company to estimate the amount of fuel necessary for a truck to get to a job site depending on the miles from the office, x. The mathematical domain for the function is the set of real numbers. How does the reasonable domain differ from the mathematical domain?

Answer 1

Answer:

The reasonable domain is less extensive that the mathematical domain.

Step-by-step explanation:

The reasonable domain for the function is the set of all possible values of the independent variable (in this case x) that make sense to the situation in which the function is being applied.

For the function $f(x)=16.4x+2$, the mathematical domain is the set of real numbers.

Now, in the function the independent variable ''x'' represents the distance (in miles) between the job site and the office. We know that we can't have a negative distance in real life. Therefore, we need to restrict our mathematical domain into the reasonable domain by eliminating all the negative numbers from the set of all real numbers.

Our new domain (reasonable domain) is

{x ∈ IR : x ≥ 0}

The reasonable domain is less extensive that the mathematical domain.