Functions f and g are defined by
- (i)
It is given that the function exists. State the smallest value of .
- (ii)
Find an expression for , stating its domain.
- (iii)
Using the value of found in part (i), determine whether the composite function exists.
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Worked solution
4(i)
1. Find the turning point of $f(x)$ to determine the boundary for a one-to-one domain.
For to exist, must be a one-to-one function.
Observe that has a squared term. Its turning point (minimum) occurs when the term being squared is zero:
2. Deduce the smallest value of $a$ for the restricted domain.
For to be one-to-one on the domain , the interval must not cross the turning point. This means the domain must start at or after the turning point.
Therefore, .
The smallest possible value of is .
4(ii)
1. Let $y = g(x)$ and rearrange into a quadratic equation to solve for $x$ in terms of $y$.
Let
Using the quadratic formula to solve for :
2. Use the given domain of $g$ to choose the correct root and state the expression for $g^{-1}(x)$.
Since the domain of is , we reject the positive root (which would give ).
Therefore, replacing with , the inverse function is:
3. Find the range of $g$ to determine the domain of $g^{-1}$.
The domain of is the range of .
The turning point of the parabola occurs at .
Maximum value of .
Given the domain of is , the curve takes all values up to and including the maximum. Thus, the range of is .
Hence, the domain of is .
, domain:
4(iii)
1. Find the value of $a$ from part (i) to determine the range of $f^{-1}$.
For to have an inverse, it must be a one-to-one function. The turning point is at , so the smallest value of is .
The range of an inverse function is the domain of its original function, so .
2. Find the domain of $g^{-1}$ from part (ii).
Completing the square for :
Given the domain of is , the maximum value is , giving the range of as .
The domain of is the range of , so .
3. Evaluate the condition for the existence of $g^{-1} \circ f^{-1}$ and conclude.
For the composite function to exist, we require the range of the inner function to be a subset of the domain of the outer function:
However, (for example, but ).
Therefore, the composite function does not exist.
The composite function does not exist because .
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