Find the domain. Write answer in interval notation.

Question

m(x) = x - 5

          --------

           x + 4

         

Answer 1

m(x) = (x-5)/(x+4)

 

The domain is all possible input values for "x"

 

The only restriction here is that x cannot be -4

because we cannot divide by zero.  Thus, the

domain of m(x) is all real numbers except -4.

 

In interval notation this is

(-∞,-4)U(-4,∞)

 

The open parenthesis indicates that the endpoints

are not included in the interval.  The -∞ and ∞

are not included since one can never actually reach

that point.  The -4 is excluded since that is the only

real value which x cannot be.