How do you find the range of f(x)= x^2/(1-x^2)?

1 Answer
Mar 21, 2018

(-oo, -1) uu [0, oo)

Explanation:

Given:

f(x) = x^2/(1-x^2)

Let y = f(x) and attempt to solve for x...

y = f(x) = x^2/(1-x^2) = (1-(1-x^2))/(1-x^2) = 1/(1-x^2)-1

Add 1 to both ends to get:

y + 1 = 1/(1-x^2)

Multiply both sides by (1-x^2)/(y+1) to get:

1-x^2 = 1/(y+1)

Add x^2-1/(y+1) to both sides to get:

1-1/(y+1) = x^2

In order for this to have a real valued solution, we require:

1-1/(y+1) >= 0

That is:

y/(y+1) >= 0

Hence we require one of:

(y >= 0 ^^ y+1 > 0) rarr y in [0, oo)

(y < 0 ^^ y+1 < 0) rarr y in (-oo, -1)

So the range of f(x) is (-oo, -1) uu [0, oo)

graph{x^2/(1-x^2) [-10, 10, -5, 5]}