In the following applet you can examine the left and right behavior of an nth degree polynomial with different leading coefficients.  Change the leading coefficient and n by dragging the corresponding red point below.

  1. What is the left and right behavior of a 4th degree polynomial with a leading coefficient of 2.2?

  2. What is the left and right behavior of a 6th degree polynomial with a leading coefficient of -2.2?

  3. What is the left and right behavior of a 3th degree polynomial with a leading coefficient of 1.2?

  4. What is the left and right behavior of a 7th degree polynomial with a leading coefficient of -0.37?

Sorry, this page requires a Java-compatible web browser.

 

This is a prototype of JavaSketchpad, a World-Wide-Web component of The Geometer's Sketchpad. Copyright ©1990-1998 by Key Curriculum Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Portions of this work were funded by the National Science Foundation (awards DMI 9561674 & 9623018).