Implicitly
Stage: 5 Challenge Level:

$X(r)$ is defined implicitly by the quadratic relationship
$$
X^2r^2-Xr-r+1=0
$$
Part 1: Which of the
choices $r=1,-1,100$ give real values for $X(r)$?
Part 2: What is the range
of values of $r$ for which $X(r)$ takes real values?
What happens when $r=0$?
Part 3: Sketch the overall
shape of $X(r)$ against $r$ and find the maximum and minimum values
of $X(r)$.
Note: You could numerically find
a sensible conjecture for the minimum and maximum values of $X(r)$,
but to prove this you will need to use calculus.
Published November 2009,December 2009.