As the title suggests I am trying to prove that for all c in [0,infty) there exists x in R such that xe^x=c. Now, the previous parts of this question imply that the way we are meant to do this is by using the intermediate value theorem. Then we can consider xe^x=f(x), but this function is defined on R->R and the IVT requires that our domain be [a,b] with a,b in R. So how exactly can we do this? Please note that this comes from an analysis course so calc I or II methods won't work here.

Taniya Melton

Taniya Melton

Answered question

2022-10-31

As the title suggests I am trying to prove that for all c [ 0 , ) there exists x R such that x e x = c.
Now, the previous parts of this question imply that the way we are meant to do this is by using the intermediate value theorem. Then we can consider x e x = f ( x ), but this function is defined on R R and the IVT requires that our domain be [ a , b ] with a , b R . So how exactly can we do this? Please note that this comes from an analysis course so calc I or II methods won't work here.

Answer & Explanation

scapatofc

scapatofc

Beginner2022-11-01Added 12 answers

hint
If c = 0, we will take x = 0.
So, let us assume that c > 0.
the function f : x x e x satisfies
lim x 0 + f ( x ) = 0 ; lim x f ( x ) = +
So, there exist δ > 0 and A > 0 such that
a δ f ( a ) < c 2
and
b A f ( b ) > 2 c
Now, apply IVT to g : x f ( x ) c
at the intervall [ a , b ].

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