This analysis reveals unique polynomials tangent to power functions with positive and negative integer exponents.
Considering a power function f(x) = x^n with exponent n as a positive integer, we show that, at each of its points, there exists a unique polynomial function of degree n − 1 that is tangent to it at that point. Similarly, we verify that every power function h(x) = x^k with exponent k as a negative integer is tangent, at each of its points, to a function of the form l(x) =P t atxt, where the exponents t are integers between k + 1 and -1.
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Cotrim et al. (2025) studied this question.