# Math Help - Urgent asymptote question??

1. ## Urgent asymptote question??

I have a math 12 final in about two hours and the only thing I can't seem to figure out is how to find the asymptote when you can't use a calculator to graph it? For example I've seen questions such as

2. Which of the following is an asymptote of the graph of the function y = cotx

5. Which of the following lines is an asymptote for the graph of y = sec x ?

Does anyone know a rule to finding the asymptotes? What happens if there's a number in front of the x? Would that be too hard to figure out in your head?

2. Originally Posted by alliereid
I have a math 12 final in about two hours and the only thing I can't seem to figure out is how to find the asymptote when you can't use a calculator to graph it? For example I've seen questions such as

2. Which of the following is an asymptote of the graph of the function y = cotx

5. Which of the following lines is an asymptote for the graph of y = sec x ?

Does anyone know a rule to finding the asymptotes? What happens if there's a number in front of the x? Would that be too hard to figure out in your head?
Vertical asymptotes are vertical lines located at values of x that make your function undefined.

$y = \cot x = \frac{\cos x}{\sin x}$ is undefned when $\sin x = 0$ ....

$y = \sec x = \frac{1}{\cos x}$ is undefined when $\cos x = 0$ ....