3.2 Polynomial function  (Page 3/3)

Identity function

The dependent (y) and independent (x) variables have same value. Identity function is similar in concept to that of identity relation which consists of relation of an element of a set with itself. It is a linear function in which m=1 and c=0. Identity function form is represented as :

$$y=\mathrm{f(x)}=x$$

The graph of identity function is a straight line bisecting first and third quadrants of coordinate system. Note that slope of straight line is 45°. It is clear from the graph that its domain and range both are real number set R.

Quadratic function

The general form of quadratic function is :

$$\mathrm{f(x)}=a{x}^2+bx+c;a,b,c\in R;a\ne 0$$

We shall discuss quadratic function in detail in a separate module and hence discussion of this function is not taken up here.

Graph of polynomial function

Graph of polynomial is continuous and non-periodic. If degree is greater than 1, then it is a non-linear graph. Polynomial graphs are analyzed with the help of function properties like intercepts, slopes, concavity, and end behaviors. The may or may not intersect x-axis. This means that it may or may not have real roots. As maximum number of roots of a polynomial is at the most equal to the order of polynomial, we can deduce that graph can at the most intersect x-axis “n” times as maximum numbers of real roots are “n”.

The fact that graph of polynomial is continuous suggests two interesting inferences :

1: If there are two values of polynomial f(a) and f(b) such that f(a)f(b)<0, then there are at least 1 or an odd numbers of real roots between a and b. The condition f(a)f(b)<0 means that function values f(a) and f(b) lie on the opposite sides of x-axis. Since graph is continuous, it is bound to cross x-axis at least once or odd times. As such, there are at least 1 or odd numbers of real roots (as shown in the left figure down).

2 : If there are two values of polynomial f(a) and f(b) such that f(a)f(b)>0, then there are either no real roots or there are even numbers of real roots between a and b. The condition f(a)f(b)>0 means that function values f(a) and f(b) are either both negative or both positive i.e. they lie on the same side of x - axis. Since graph is continuous, it may not cross at all or may cross x-axis even times (as shown in the right figure above). Clearly, there is either no real root or there are even numbers of real roots.

We shall study graphs of quadratic polynomials in a separate module. Further, other graphs will be discussed in appropriate context, while discussing a particular function. Here, we present two monomial quadratic graphs $y=x^2$ and $y=x^3$ . These graphs are important from the point of view of generalizing graphs of these particular polynomial structure. The nature of graphs $y=x^n$ , where “n” is even integer greater than equal to 2, is similar to the graph of $y=x^2$ . We should emphasize that the shape of curve simply generalizes the nature of graph – we need to draw them actually, if we want to draw graph of a particular monomial function. However, we shall find that these generalizations about nature of curve lets us know a great deal about the monomial polynomial. In particular, we can conclude that their domain and range are real number set R.

Similarly, the nature of graphs $y=x^n$ , where “n” is odd number integer greater than 2, is similar to the graph of $y=x^3$ .