Calculus (3rd Edition)

Published by W. H. Freeman
ISBN 10: 1464125260
ISBN 13: 978-1-46412-526-3

Chapter 1 - Precalculus Review - 1.1 Real Numbers, Functions, and Graphs - Exercises - Page 12: 81

Answer

Let $y=f(x)$ be a function whose graph is symmetric about y-axis as well as origin. Now, the graph which is symmetric about y-axis has a property that if $(x, y)$ is a point on the graph, then, $(-x, y)$ is also a point on the graph. Thus, for our function to be symmetric about y-axis, we must have $f(-x)=f(x)$[Equation 1] for all $x$. Also, the graph symmetric about origin follows that if $(x,y)$ is a point on the graph, then, we must have $(-x, -y)$ on the graph as well. Thus, for our function to be symmetric about origin, we must have $f(-x)=-f(x)$[Equation 2] for all $x$. Now, from Equation 1 and Equation 2, we have $f(x)=-f(x) \Rightarrow 2f(x)=0$, or, $f(x)=0$ for all $x$. Therefore, the only function which is symmetric with respect to both y-axis and origin is $f(x)=0$ .

Work Step by Step

Note that $f(x)$ denotes the height above $x$, or, the y-coordinate for a graph of the function, thus, $f(-x)$ means height above $-x$.
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