An intersection point between two functions is a point where the graphs of the functions meet each other. You find intersections by solving the system of equations consisting of the two functions.
Rule
You find the point where the graph of and the graph of intersects by solving the equation .
Example 1
Find the intersection between and
Since and , you can set them equal to each other:
Insert into because it’s the simpler expression of the two. You could also insert into , but it would be more work.
The intersection between and is
Example 2
Find the intersection between and
Since and , you can set them equal to each other:
Solving the quadratic equation with the quadratic formula:
so
Insert and into because it’s the simpler expression. You could also insert and into , but it would be more work.
Example 3
For which values of are and equal?
Find the point of intersection between the graphs by setting them equal to each other:
You need to check that you didn’t miss any solutions since you divided by , which can be 0. You check this by looking at what happens if . Then , which means , or , which means . In both cases, is different from , so they are not solutions.
There are infinitely many points of intersection, and the points have -values equal to for . You find the -values by inserting the -values into one of the functions, for example to . Here, you have to be aware that even if has a period of , you have found two different angles on the unit circle, with radians between. This is why you get two different values when you put the result back into :
These are two different -values, and , each belonging to their respective angle on the unit circle. These angles repeat themselves with a period of . Together, you get two different points of intersection: