Even and Odd Functions

General Mathematics — Second Secondary

Common mistakes

Key points

Ignoring the domainthe algebraic test alone is not enough if the domain is not symmetric about zero.

Sign errors with powerssubstituting −x into x³ changes the sign, while substituting into x² does not.

Generalising from one examplechecking one value does not prove a property, but one counterexample is enough to disprove it.

Mixing up the product and sum ruleseven × odd is odd, but the sum of an even and an odd function usually has no simple parity.

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