Precalculus (6th Edition) Blitzer

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0-13446-914-3
ISBN 13: 978-0-13446-914-0

Chapter 1 - Section 1.3 - More on Functions and Their Graphs - Exercise Set - Page 200: 136

Answer

This statement makes sense.

Work Step by Step

Consider the given function $f\left( x \right)=c$ and the difference quotient formula $\frac{f\left( x+h \right)-f\left( x \right)}{h}$. Substitute $x+h$ in place of x to find the value of $f\left( x+h \right)$. In the given function, there is no term that consists of x, so after substitution, it will results in $f\left( x+h \right)=c$. So, $\begin{align} & f\left( x+h \right)=c \\ & f\left( x \right)=c \end{align}$ Substituting the values of $f\left( x \right)\text{ and }f\left( x+h \right)$ in the difference quotient formula $\begin{align} & \frac{f\left( x+h \right)-f\left( x \right)}{h}=\frac{c-c}{h} \\ & =\frac{0}{h} \\ & =0 \end{align}$ Hence, the difference quotient formula always gives zero when $f\left( x \right)=c$. Hence, the statement makes sense.
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