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Power Up
Show without recourse to any calculating aid that 7^{1/2} + 7^{1/3} + 7^{1/4} < 7 and 4^{1/2} + 4^{1/3} + 4^{1/4} > 4 . Sketch the graph of f(x) = x^{1/2} + x^{1/3} + x^{1/4} -x
Age 16 to 18
Challenge Level
The following five functions have been plotted accurately on the chart below
$$y=\sqrt{x}\quad\quad y=x^2\quad\quad y=x\quad\quad y=(x^2+x)/2\quad\quad y=2\sqrt{x}-x$$
Which is the $x$-axis and which is the $y$-axis? Which curves correspond to which functions?
Imagine that you wish to plot a route between $(0, 0)$ and $(1, 1)$. Can you find a function which does this without intersecting any of the existing curves, except at the endpoints?
What other curves can you plot which only intersect the existing curves at the end points?
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NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.
NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.