GMAT Practice Question: The function f is defined for all nonzero x by the equation f(x)=x-\frac{1}{x} If x...
Question
The function f is defined for all nonzero x by the equation f(x)=x-\frac{1}{x} If x is not equal to 0, which of the following equals f(\frac{1}{x}) ?
- f(x)
- f(-x)
- f(-\frac{1}{x})
- \frac{1}{f(x)}
- -\frac{1}{f(x)}
Topics: functions, function variable substitution
Solution
Step 1
We substitute \frac{1}{x} into the definition of f.
f(\frac{1}{x})=\frac{1}{x}-\frac{1}{\frac{1}{x}}
Step 2
We simplify the reciprocal of a reciprocal to the original value.
f(\frac{1}{x})=\frac{1}{x}-x
Step 3
We factor out a negative to match the original function form.
\frac{1}{x}-x=-(x-\frac{1}{x}) =-f(x)
Step 4
We verify that f(-x) also equals this same expression.
f(-x)=-x-\frac{1}{-x} =-x+\frac{1}{x} =-(x-\frac{1}{x}) =-f(x)
Answer
B. f(1/x)\text{ equals }f(-x)
