Test whether the function \(f(x) = x - \frac{1}{x},\ x \in R,\ x \ne 0\) is increasing or decreasing.
Q.9 Test whether the function \(f(x) = x - \frac{1}{x},\ x \in R,\ x \ne 0\) is increasing or decreasing.
Q.9 Test whether the function \(f(x) = x - \frac{1}{x},\ x \in R,\ x \ne 0\) is increasing or decreasing.
Best answer
Answer: f is increasing (for all \(x \ne 0\)).
\(f'(x) = 1 + \frac{1}{x^2}\).
For every \(x \ne 0\), \(x^2 \gt 0\), so \(\frac{1}{x^2} \gt 0\) and \(f'(x) = 1 + \frac{1}{x^2} \gt 0\). Hence \(f\) is an increasing function (on each of the intervals \(x \lt 0\) and \(x \gt 0\)).
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