Range of Tricky Tangent Function

Geometry Level 4

Find the range of the function

f ( x ) = 1 + tan x 1 tan x . \large f(x) = \dfrac{1 + \tan x}{1 - \tan x}.

None of these [ 0 , ) [0 , \infty) ( , 1 ] (-\infty , -1] ( , ) (-\infty , \infty) ( , 1 ] [ 1 , ) (-\infty , 1 ] \cup [1, \infty) ( , 0 ] [ 0 , ) (-\infty , 0 ] \cup [0, \infty) ( , 1 ) ( 1 , ) (-\infty , -1) \cup (-1, \infty) ( , 0 ] (-\infty , 0]

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5 solutions

Andrew Lontoc
Oct 6, 2015

Please educate me if what I did was not correct.

f ( x ) = y = 1 + tan x 1 tan x f\left( x \right) =y=\frac { 1+\tan { x } }{ 1-\tan { x } } ­

I took the inverse, f 1 ( x ) f^{ -1 }\left( x \right) , of the function and took its domain as the range of f ( x ) f\left( x \right)

x = 1 + tan y 1 tan y \Rightarrow x=\frac { 1+\tan { y } }{ 1-\tan { y } }

x x tan y = 1 + tan y \Rightarrow x-x\tan { y } =1+\tan { y }

tan y = x 1 x + 1 \Rightarrow \tan { y } =\frac { x-1 }{ x+1 }

f 1 ( x ) = arctan x 1 x + 1 ­ \Rightarrow f^{ -1 }\left( x \right) =\arctan { \frac { x-1 }{ x+1 } } ­

The denominator tells us that x 1 x\neq -1 ; arctan \arctan { } can take any value for its argument.

Hence, the Domain of f 1 ( x ) f^{ -1 }\left( x \right) , and Range of f ( x ) f\left( x \right) is

( , 1 ) ( 1 , ) ­ ) \left( -\infty ,-1 \right) \cup \left( -1,\infty \right) ­) .

Chew-Seong Cheong
Sep 27, 2015

Discontinuities happen when { lim x π 4 1 + tan x 1 tan x = lim x π 4 + 1 + tan x 1 tan x = + \begin{cases} \displaystyle \lim_{x \to \frac{\pi}{4}^-} \dfrac{1+\tan{x}}{1-\tan{x}} = - \infty \\ \displaystyle \lim_{x \to \frac{\pi}{4}^+} \dfrac{1+\tan{x}}{1-\tan{x}} = + \infty \end{cases}

Therefore, the range of f ( x ) f(x) is ( , ) \boxed{(-\infty, \infty)} .

Moderator note:

You forgot to check the other discontinuity, namely when tan x \tan x \rightarrow - \infty .

This gives us that the value 1 is not achieved (at ) - \infty ) . We have to check if there is any value of x x that gives us f ( x ) = 1 f(x) = - 1 , and there isn't.

Thanks, I failed to see that.

Chew-Seong Cheong - 5 years, 8 months ago

it cant exist at (4n+1)pi/4 thus it can't can continuous from -infinity to infinity, this answer is wrong. it should be none of these

McKinley Walton - 5 years, 8 months ago

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Thanks. Those who answered "None of these" were marked correct. I have updated the answer options, and the correct answer is now ( , 1 ] [ 1 , ) ( - \infty , -1 ] \cup [-1, \infty ) .

In future, if you spot any errors with a problem, you can “report” it by selecting "report problem" in the “dot dot dot” menu in the lower right corner. This will notify the problem creator who can fix the issues.

Calvin Lin Staff - 5 years, 8 months ago

f ( x ) ( , ) f(x) \in (-\infty, \infty) means < f ( x ) < -\infty < f(x) < \infty . x [ 1 , 1 ] x \in [-1, 1] means 1 f ( x ) 1 -1 \le f(x) \le 1 .

Chew-Seong Cheong - 5 years, 8 months ago
Akhil Bansal
Sep 27, 2015

1 + tan x 1 tan x \Rightarrow \dfrac{1 + \tan x}{1 - \tan x} tan x + tan ( π 4 ) 1 tan x tan ( π 4 ) \Rightarrow \dfrac{ \tan x + \tan\left(\dfrac{\pi}{4}\right)}{1 - \tan x \tan\left(\dfrac{\pi}{4}\right)} tan ( x + π 4 ) \Rightarrow \tan\left(x + \dfrac{\pi}{4}\right) Range of tan ( x ) is ( , ) \text{Range of} \tan(x)\ \text{is} \ (-\infty , \infty) Range of tan ( x + π 4 ) is also ( , ) \therefore \text{Range of} \tan\left(x + \dfrac{\pi}{4}\right) \ \text{is also} \ (-\infty , \infty)

Moderator note:

This solution is incorrect.

The implication from the second to the third line is not true if either of the tangent values evaluate to ± \pm \infty .

In particular, the value of tan ( π 2 + π 4 ) \tan ( \frac{ \pi}{2} + \frac{\pi}{4} ) need not be achieved, and has to be checked separately.

The implication from the second to the third line is not true if either of the tangent values evaluate to ± \pm \infty .

In particular, the value of tan ( π 2 + π 4 ) \tan ( \frac{ \pi}{2} + \frac{\pi}{4} ) need not be achieved, and has to be checked separately.

Calvin Lin Staff - 5 years, 8 months ago

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What is the correct solution?

Raven Herd - 5 years, 8 months ago
Yashraj Sarkar
Apr 10, 2019

f(X)=tan(X+π/4)

Aaghaz Mahajan
Apr 15, 2018

Simply take the function as y........
Manipulation leads to
Tan(x) = (y-1)/(y+1)
Thus, y can take any real values except -1........


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