Prepswift Quant Tickbox Quiz #7 Question 4

GRE Quant Problem Solving
1

According to the solution, the graph of the equation y=\frac{1}{x^2} is a hyperbola.

PrepSwift_Tickbox_Quiz_Solution
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However, when I graph the equation in Desmos and in WolframAlpha, the graph does not appear to be a hyperbola. Has this topic been discussed before? I searched the forums but could not find any results.

Wolfram_Alpha_Graph
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Desmos_Graph.pdf (121.1 KB)

I don’t think y=\frac{1}{x^2} is a hyperbola. Thoughts?

2

It is indeed not a hyperbola. A hyperbola is a specific instance of a conic section, but all conic sections are second degree curves. In contrast, x^2y = 1 is a curve with degree 3.

3

That’s fixed. It should have been xy = 1.