Am I doing this right? This should be simple, I thought. f(x)=x^2 g(x)=xa use f(g(x)), g(f(x)) What's a?

Question

I'm practicing for a placement test and I don't have that answers and I dont' know if I'm doing this right.

I need to find what 'a' is?

f(x)=x^2  g(x)=xa   F(g(x)), g(f(x))

so this is my work.

plug in for f(x)=x^2

=xa^2

plug in for g(x)=xa

x^2a

so my two answers are xa^2 and x^2a.

how to I find for just a?

I've looked online and couldn't find much help.
the answer should have an 'a' on the other side.
so the out put should look like

a=.........(no a's on this side, just x's)........
is that possible?
what did you get?

any help?

Demiurge42 · Accepted Answer

Given f(x) = x^2 and g(x) = xa

f(g(x)) = (xa)^2 = x^2 a^2
g(f(x)) = x^2 a

There must be something important you are leaving out of the your question.  Nothing in your question limits what 'a' can be and I don't see what the function compositions have to do with anything.

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Am I doing this right? This should be simple, I thought. f(x)=x^2 g(x)=xa use f(g(x)), g(f(x)) What's a?

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