How do you find the domain & range for -3 cos x?

1 Answer
Feb 24, 2017

Domain: #(-oo, oo)#
Range: #[-3, 3]#

Explanation:

The domain is all the valid input values. Since cosine is a periodic function (it repeats), the domain is all real values: #(-oo, oo).#

The #3# says that the cosine function has an amplitude of #3#. The amplitude is the half-height of the wave so that means the range of the function is #[-3, 3]#.

The negative sign in front of the amplitude says that the wave is reversed. This means instead of #(0, 3)#, for the peak, it has #(0, -3)# as the trough if the wave.

Graph of #f(x) = -3cos(x)#:
graph{-3cos(x) [-10, 10, -5, 5]}