Consider the family of functions \(f_a(x)=e^{2x}+ae^x\), where \(a\in\mathbb{R}\).
a) Describe the graphs in terms of extrema and whether each function is one-to-one on \(\mathbb{R}\).
b) For \(a<0\), show that the horizontal distance between the local minimum and the inflection point is independent of \(a\).
c) Find \(f_2^{-1}(x)\) and its domain.
d) Find \((f_2^{-1})'(x)\).
Hints
- Study the sign of the first derivative for different values of \(a\).
- Combine the logarithms when subtracting the two x-coordinates.
- Substitute \(u=e^x\) when solving for the inverse.
- Differentiate the inverse function with the chain rule.
Solution
1. The first derivative is \(f_a'(x)=e^x(2e^x+a)\). For \(a\ge0\), it is positive for every \(x\), so the function is strictly increasing, has no extrema, and is one-to-one on \(\mathbb{R}\). For \(a<0\), there is a local minimum at \(x=\ln\left(-\frac{a}{2}\right)\), so the function is not one-to-one on all of \(\mathbb{R}\).
2. The second derivative is \(f_a''(x)=e^x(4e^x+a)\). For \(a<0\), it is zero at \(x=\ln\left(-\frac{a}{4}\right)\) and changes from negative to positive there, so this is the inflection-point x-coordinate. Therefore, the horizontal distance is \(\ln\left(-\frac{a}{2}\right)-\ln\left(-\frac{a}{4}\right)=\ln(2)\).
3. For \(a=2\), write \(y=e^{2x}+2e^x=(e^x+1)^2-1\). Since \(e^x>0\), \(e^x=\sqrt{y+1}-1\). Thus, \(f_2^{-1}(x)=\ln(\sqrt{x+1}-1)\), with domain \((0,\infty)\).
4. Differentiating gives \((f_2^{-1})'(x)=\frac{1}{2(x+1-\sqrt{x+1})}\).
Answer
a) For \(a\ge0\), \(f_a\) is strictly increasing and one-to-one on \(\mathbb{R}\). For \(a<0\), it has a local minimum and is not one-to-one on \(\mathbb{R}\).
b) The horizontal distance is \(\ln(2)\).
c) \(f_2^{-1}(x)=\ln(\sqrt{x+1}-1)\), domain \((0,\infty)\)
d) \((f_2^{-1})'(x)=\frac{1}{2(x+1-\sqrt{x+1})}\)