Calculus Examples

Find the Maximum/Minimum Value (x^2)/(x-1)
Step 1
Find the first derivative of the function.
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Step 1.1
Differentiate using the Quotient Rule which states that is where and .
Step 1.2
Differentiate.
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Step 1.2.1
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 1.2.2
Move to the left of .
Step 1.2.3
By the Sum Rule, the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.2.4
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 1.2.5
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.2.6
Simplify the expression.
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Step 1.2.6.1
Add and .
Step 1.2.6.2
Multiply by .
Step 1.3
Simplify.
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Step 1.3.1
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.3.2
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.3.3
Simplify the numerator.
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Step 1.3.3.1
Simplify each term.
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Step 1.3.3.1.1
Multiply by by adding the exponents.
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Step 1.3.3.1.1.1
Move .
Step 1.3.3.1.1.2
Multiply by .
Step 1.3.3.1.2
Multiply by .
Step 1.3.3.2
Subtract from .
Step 1.3.4
Factor out of .
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Step 1.3.4.1
Factor out of .
Step 1.3.4.2
Factor out of .
Step 1.3.4.3
Factor out of .
Step 2
Find the second derivative of the function.
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Step 2.1
Differentiate using the Quotient Rule which states that is where and .
Step 2.2
Multiply the exponents in .
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Step 2.2.1
Apply the power rule and multiply exponents, .
Step 2.2.2
Multiply by .
Step 2.3
Differentiate using the Product Rule which states that is where and .
Step 2.4
Differentiate.
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Step 2.4.1
By the Sum Rule, the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 2.4.2
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 2.4.3
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 2.4.4
Simplify the expression.
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Step 2.4.4.1
Add and .
Step 2.4.4.2
Multiply by .
Step 2.4.5
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 2.4.6
Simplify by adding terms.
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Step 2.4.6.1
Multiply by .
Step 2.4.6.2
Add and .
Step 2.5
Differentiate using the chain rule, which states that is where and .
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Step 2.5.1
To apply the Chain Rule, set as .
Step 2.5.2
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 2.5.3
Replace all occurrences of with .
Step 2.6
Simplify with factoring out.
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Step 2.6.1
Multiply by .
Step 2.6.2
Factor out of .
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Step 2.6.2.1
Factor out of .
Step 2.6.2.2
Factor out of .
Step 2.6.2.3
Factor out of .
Step 2.7
Cancel the common factors.
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Step 2.7.1
Factor out of .
Step 2.7.2
Cancel the common factor.
Step 2.7.3
Rewrite the expression.
Step 2.8
By the Sum Rule, the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 2.9
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 2.10
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 2.11
Simplify the expression.
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Step 2.11.1
Add and .
Step 2.11.2
Multiply by .
Step 2.12
Simplify.
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Step 2.12.1
Apply the distributive property.
Step 2.12.2
Simplify the numerator.
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Step 2.12.2.1
Simplify each term.
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Step 2.12.2.1.1
Expand using the FOIL Method.
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Step 2.12.2.1.1.1
Apply the distributive property.
Step 2.12.2.1.1.2
Apply the distributive property.
Step 2.12.2.1.1.3
Apply the distributive property.
Step 2.12.2.1.2
Simplify and combine like terms.
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Step 2.12.2.1.2.1
Simplify each term.
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Step 2.12.2.1.2.1.1
Rewrite using the commutative property of multiplication.
Step 2.12.2.1.2.1.2
Multiply by by adding the exponents.
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Step 2.12.2.1.2.1.2.1
Move .
Step 2.12.2.1.2.1.2.2
Multiply by .
Step 2.12.2.1.2.1.3
Move to the left of .
Step 2.12.2.1.2.1.4
Multiply by .
Step 2.12.2.1.2.1.5
Multiply by .
Step 2.12.2.1.2.2
Subtract from .
Step 2.12.2.1.3
Multiply by by adding the exponents.
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Step 2.12.2.1.3.1
Move .
Step 2.12.2.1.3.2
Multiply by .
Step 2.12.2.1.4
Multiply by .
Step 2.12.2.2
Combine the opposite terms in .
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Step 2.12.2.2.1
Subtract from .
Step 2.12.2.2.2
Add and .
Step 2.12.2.2.3
Add and .
Step 2.12.2.2.4
Add and .
Step 3
To find the local maximum and minimum values of the function, set the derivative equal to and solve.
Step 4
Find the first derivative.
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Step 4.1
Find the first derivative.
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Step 4.1.1
Differentiate using the Quotient Rule which states that is where and .
Step 4.1.2
Differentiate.
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Step 4.1.2.1
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 4.1.2.2
Move to the left of .
Step 4.1.2.3
By the Sum Rule, the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 4.1.2.4
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 4.1.2.5
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 4.1.2.6
Simplify the expression.
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Step 4.1.2.6.1
Add and .
Step 4.1.2.6.2
Multiply by .
Step 4.1.3
Simplify.
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Step 4.1.3.1
Apply the distributive property.
Step 4.1.3.2
Apply the distributive property.
Step 4.1.3.3
Simplify the numerator.
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Step 4.1.3.3.1
Simplify each term.
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Step 4.1.3.3.1.1
Multiply by by adding the exponents.
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Step 4.1.3.3.1.1.1
Move .
Step 4.1.3.3.1.1.2
Multiply by .
Step 4.1.3.3.1.2
Multiply by .
Step 4.1.3.3.2
Subtract from .
Step 4.1.3.4
Factor out of .
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Step 4.1.3.4.1
Factor out of .
Step 4.1.3.4.2
Factor out of .
Step 4.1.3.4.3
Factor out of .
Step 4.2
The first derivative of with respect to is .
Step 5
Set the first derivative equal to then solve the equation .
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Step 5.1
Set the first derivative equal to .
Step 5.2
Set the numerator equal to zero.
Step 5.3
Solve the equation for .
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Step 5.3.1
If any individual factor on the left side of the equation is equal to , the entire expression will be equal to .
Step 5.3.2
Set equal to .
Step 5.3.3
Set equal to and solve for .
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Step 5.3.3.1
Set equal to .
Step 5.3.3.2
Add to both sides of the equation.
Step 5.3.4
The final solution is all the values that make true.
Step 6
Find the values where the derivative is undefined.
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Step 6.1
Set the denominator in equal to to find where the expression is undefined.
Step 6.2
Solve for .
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Step 6.2.1
Set the equal to .
Step 6.2.2
Add to both sides of the equation.
Step 7
Critical points to evaluate.
Step 8
Evaluate the second derivative at . If the second derivative is positive, then this is a local minimum. If it is negative, then this is a local maximum.
Step 9
Evaluate the second derivative.
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Step 9.1
Simplify the denominator.
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Step 9.1.1
Subtract from .
Step 9.1.2
Raise to the power of .
Step 9.2
Divide by .
Step 10
is a local maximum because the value of the second derivative is negative. This is referred to as the second derivative test.
is a local maximum
Step 11
Find the y-value when .
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Step 11.1
Replace the variable with in the expression.
Step 11.2
Simplify the result.
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Step 11.2.1
Raising to any positive power yields .
Step 11.2.2
Subtract from .
Step 11.2.3
Divide by .
Step 11.2.4
The final answer is .
Step 12
Evaluate the second derivative at . If the second derivative is positive, then this is a local minimum. If it is negative, then this is a local maximum.
Step 13
Evaluate the second derivative.
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Step 13.1
Simplify the denominator.
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Step 13.1.1
Subtract from .
Step 13.1.2
One to any power is one.
Step 13.2
Divide by .
Step 14
is a local minimum because the value of the second derivative is positive. This is referred to as the second derivative test.
is a local minimum
Step 15
Find the y-value when .
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Step 15.1
Replace the variable with in the expression.
Step 15.2
Simplify the result.
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Step 15.2.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 15.2.2
Subtract from .
Step 15.2.3
Divide by .
Step 15.2.4
The final answer is .
Step 16
These are the local extrema for .
is a local maxima
is a local minima
Step 17