Calculus Examples

Find the Inflection Points -1/3x^6-3x^5-15/2x^4
Step 1
Write as a function.
Step 2
Find the second derivative.
Tap for more steps...
Step 2.1
Find the first derivative.
Tap for more steps...
Step 2.1.1
By the Sum Rule, the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 2.1.2
Evaluate .
Tap for more steps...
Step 2.1.2.1
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 2.1.2.2
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 2.1.2.3
Multiply by .
Step 2.1.2.4
Combine and .
Step 2.1.2.5
Combine and .
Step 2.1.2.6
Cancel the common factor of and .
Tap for more steps...
Step 2.1.2.6.1
Factor out of .
Step 2.1.2.6.2
Cancel the common factors.
Tap for more steps...
Step 2.1.2.6.2.1
Factor out of .
Step 2.1.2.6.2.2
Cancel the common factor.
Step 2.1.2.6.2.3
Rewrite the expression.
Step 2.1.2.6.2.4
Divide by .
Step 2.1.3
Evaluate .
Tap for more steps...
Step 2.1.3.1
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 2.1.3.2
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 2.1.3.3
Multiply by .
Step 2.1.4
Evaluate .
Tap for more steps...
Step 2.1.4.1
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 2.1.4.2
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 2.1.4.3
Multiply by .
Step 2.1.4.4
Combine and .
Step 2.1.4.5
Multiply by .
Step 2.1.4.6
Combine and .
Step 2.1.4.7
Cancel the common factor of and .
Tap for more steps...
Step 2.1.4.7.1
Factor out of .
Step 2.1.4.7.2
Cancel the common factors.
Tap for more steps...
Step 2.1.4.7.2.1
Factor out of .
Step 2.1.4.7.2.2
Cancel the common factor.
Step 2.1.4.7.2.3
Rewrite the expression.
Step 2.1.4.7.2.4
Divide by .
Step 2.2
Find the second derivative.
Tap for more steps...
Step 2.2.1
By the Sum Rule, the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 2.2.2
Evaluate .
Tap for more steps...
Step 2.2.2.1
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 2.2.2.2
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 2.2.2.3
Multiply by .
Step 2.2.3
Evaluate .
Tap for more steps...
Step 2.2.3.1
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 2.2.3.2
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 2.2.3.3
Multiply by .
Step 2.2.4
Evaluate .
Tap for more steps...
Step 2.2.4.1
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 2.2.4.2
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 2.2.4.3
Multiply by .
Step 2.3
The second derivative of with respect to is .
Step 3
Set the second derivative equal to then solve the equation .
Tap for more steps...
Step 3.1
Set the second derivative equal to .
Step 3.2
Factor the left side of the equation.
Tap for more steps...
Step 3.2.1
Factor out of .
Tap for more steps...
Step 3.2.1.1
Factor out of .
Step 3.2.1.2
Factor out of .
Step 3.2.1.3
Factor out of .
Step 3.2.1.4
Factor out of .
Step 3.2.1.5
Factor out of .
Step 3.2.2
Factor using the perfect square rule.
Tap for more steps...
Step 3.2.2.1
Rewrite as .
Step 3.2.2.2
Check that the middle term is two times the product of the numbers being squared in the first term and third term.
Step 3.2.2.3
Rewrite the polynomial.
Step 3.2.2.4
Factor using the perfect square trinomial rule , where and .
Step 3.3
If any individual factor on the left side of the equation is equal to , the entire expression will be equal to .
Step 3.4
Set equal to and solve for .
Tap for more steps...
Step 3.4.1
Set equal to .
Step 3.4.2
Solve for .
Tap for more steps...
Step 3.4.2.1
Take the specified root of both sides of the equation to eliminate the exponent on the left side.
Step 3.4.2.2
Simplify .
Tap for more steps...
Step 3.4.2.2.1
Rewrite as .
Step 3.4.2.2.2
Pull terms out from under the radical, assuming positive real numbers.
Step 3.4.2.2.3
Plus or minus is .
Step 3.5
Set equal to and solve for .
Tap for more steps...
Step 3.5.1
Set equal to .
Step 3.5.2
Solve for .
Tap for more steps...
Step 3.5.2.1
Set the equal to .
Step 3.5.2.2
Subtract from both sides of the equation.
Step 3.6
The final solution is all the values that make true.
Step 4
Find the points where the second derivative is .
Tap for more steps...
Step 4.1
Substitute in to find the value of .
Tap for more steps...
Step 4.1.1
Replace the variable with in the expression.
Step 4.1.2
Simplify the result.
Tap for more steps...
Step 4.1.2.1
Simplify each term.
Tap for more steps...
Step 4.1.2.1.1
Raising to any positive power yields .
Step 4.1.2.1.2
Multiply .
Tap for more steps...
Step 4.1.2.1.2.1
Multiply by .
Step 4.1.2.1.2.2
Multiply by .
Step 4.1.2.1.3
Raising to any positive power yields .
Step 4.1.2.1.4
Multiply by .
Step 4.1.2.1.5
Raising to any positive power yields .
Step 4.1.2.1.6
Multiply .
Tap for more steps...
Step 4.1.2.1.6.1
Multiply by .
Step 4.1.2.1.6.2
Multiply by .
Step 4.1.2.2
Simplify by adding numbers.
Tap for more steps...
Step 4.1.2.2.1
Add and .
Step 4.1.2.2.2
Add and .
Step 4.1.2.3
The final answer is .
Step 4.2
The point found by substituting in is . This point can be an inflection point.
Step 4.3
Substitute in to find the value of .
Tap for more steps...
Step 4.3.1
Replace the variable with in the expression.
Step 4.3.2
Simplify the result.
Tap for more steps...
Step 4.3.2.1
Simplify each term.
Tap for more steps...
Step 4.3.2.1.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 4.3.2.1.2
Cancel the common factor of .
Tap for more steps...
Step 4.3.2.1.2.1
Move the leading negative in into the numerator.
Step 4.3.2.1.2.2
Factor out of .
Step 4.3.2.1.2.3
Cancel the common factor.
Step 4.3.2.1.2.4
Rewrite the expression.
Step 4.3.2.1.3
Multiply by .
Step 4.3.2.1.4
Multiply by by adding the exponents.
Tap for more steps...
Step 4.3.2.1.4.1
Multiply by .
Tap for more steps...
Step 4.3.2.1.4.1.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 4.3.2.1.4.1.2
Use the power rule to combine exponents.
Step 4.3.2.1.4.2
Add and .
Step 4.3.2.1.5
Raise to the power of .
Step 4.3.2.1.6
Raise to the power of .
Step 4.3.2.1.7
Multiply .
Tap for more steps...
Step 4.3.2.1.7.1
Multiply by .
Step 4.3.2.1.7.2
Combine and .
Step 4.3.2.1.7.3
Multiply by .
Step 4.3.2.1.8
Move the negative in front of the fraction.
Step 4.3.2.2
Find the common denominator.
Tap for more steps...
Step 4.3.2.2.1
Write as a fraction with denominator .
Step 4.3.2.2.2
Multiply by .
Step 4.3.2.2.3
Multiply by .
Step 4.3.2.2.4
Write as a fraction with denominator .
Step 4.3.2.2.5
Multiply by .
Step 4.3.2.2.6
Multiply by .
Step 4.3.2.3
Combine the numerators over the common denominator.
Step 4.3.2.4
Simplify each term.
Tap for more steps...
Step 4.3.2.4.1
Multiply by .
Step 4.3.2.4.2
Multiply by .
Step 4.3.2.5
Simplify the expression.
Tap for more steps...
Step 4.3.2.5.1
Add and .
Step 4.3.2.5.2
Subtract from .
Step 4.3.2.5.3
Move the negative in front of the fraction.
Step 4.3.2.6
The final answer is .
Step 4.4
The point found by substituting in is . This point can be an inflection point.
Step 4.5
Determine the points that could be inflection points.
Step 5
Split into intervals around the points that could potentially be inflection points.
Step 6
Substitute a value from the interval into the second derivative to determine if it is increasing or decreasing.
Tap for more steps...
Step 6.1
Replace the variable with in the expression.
Step 6.2
Simplify the result.
Tap for more steps...
Step 6.2.1
Simplify each term.
Tap for more steps...
Step 6.2.1.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 6.2.1.2
Multiply by .
Step 6.2.1.3
Raise to the power of .
Step 6.2.1.4
Multiply by .
Step 6.2.1.5
Raise to the power of .
Step 6.2.1.6
Multiply by .
Step 6.2.2
Simplify by adding and subtracting.
Tap for more steps...
Step 6.2.2.1
Add and .
Step 6.2.2.2
Subtract from .
Step 6.2.3
The final answer is .
Step 6.3
At , the second derivative is . Since this is negative, the second derivative is decreasing on the interval
Decreasing on since
Decreasing on since
Step 7
Substitute a value from the interval into the second derivative to determine if it is increasing or decreasing.
Tap for more steps...
Step 7.1
Replace the variable with in the expression.
Step 7.2
Simplify the result.
Tap for more steps...
Step 7.2.1
Simplify each term.
Tap for more steps...
Step 7.2.1.1
Use the power rule to distribute the exponent.
Tap for more steps...
Step 7.2.1.1.1
Apply the product rule to .
Step 7.2.1.1.2
Apply the product rule to .
Step 7.2.1.2
Raise to the power of .
Step 7.2.1.3
Multiply by .
Step 7.2.1.4
Raise to the power of .
Step 7.2.1.5
Raise to the power of .
Step 7.2.1.6
Cancel the common factor of .
Tap for more steps...
Step 7.2.1.6.1
Factor out of .
Step 7.2.1.6.2
Factor out of .
Step 7.2.1.6.3
Cancel the common factor.
Step 7.2.1.6.4
Rewrite the expression.
Step 7.2.1.7
Combine and .
Step 7.2.1.8
Multiply by .
Step 7.2.1.9
Move the negative in front of the fraction.
Step 7.2.1.10
Use the power rule to distribute the exponent.
Tap for more steps...
Step 7.2.1.10.1
Apply the product rule to .
Step 7.2.1.10.2
Apply the product rule to .
Step 7.2.1.11
Raise to the power of .
Step 7.2.1.12
Raise to the power of .
Step 7.2.1.13
Raise to the power of .
Step 7.2.1.14
Cancel the common factor of .
Tap for more steps...
Step 7.2.1.14.1
Move the leading negative in into the numerator.
Step 7.2.1.14.2
Factor out of .
Step 7.2.1.14.3
Factor out of .
Step 7.2.1.14.4
Cancel the common factor.
Step 7.2.1.14.5
Rewrite the expression.
Step 7.2.1.15
Combine and .
Step 7.2.1.16
Multiply by .
Step 7.2.1.17
Use the power rule to distribute the exponent.
Tap for more steps...
Step 7.2.1.17.1
Apply the product rule to .
Step 7.2.1.17.2
Apply the product rule to .
Step 7.2.1.18
Raise to the power of .
Step 7.2.1.19
Multiply by .
Step 7.2.1.20
Raise to the power of .
Step 7.2.1.21
Raise to the power of .
Step 7.2.1.22
Cancel the common factor of .
Tap for more steps...
Step 7.2.1.22.1
Factor out of .
Step 7.2.1.22.2
Factor out of .
Step 7.2.1.22.3
Cancel the common factor.
Step 7.2.1.22.4
Rewrite the expression.
Step 7.2.1.23
Combine and .
Step 7.2.1.24
Multiply by .
Step 7.2.1.25
Move the negative in front of the fraction.
Step 7.2.2
Combine fractions.
Tap for more steps...
Step 7.2.2.1
Combine the numerators over the common denominator.
Step 7.2.2.2
Subtract from .
Step 7.2.3
Simplify each term.
Tap for more steps...
Step 7.2.3.1
Move the negative in front of the fraction.
Step 7.2.3.2
Divide by .
Step 7.2.4
Add and .
Step 7.2.5
The final answer is .
Step 7.3
At , the second derivative is . Since this is negative, the second derivative is decreasing on the interval
Decreasing on since
Decreasing on since
Step 8
Substitute a value from the interval into the second derivative to determine if it is increasing or decreasing.
Tap for more steps...
Step 8.1
Replace the variable with in the expression.
Step 8.2
Simplify the result.
Tap for more steps...
Step 8.2.1
Simplify each term.
Tap for more steps...
Step 8.2.1.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 8.2.1.2
Multiply by .
Step 8.2.1.3
Raise to the power of .
Step 8.2.1.4
Multiply by .
Step 8.2.1.5
Raise to the power of .
Step 8.2.1.6
Multiply by .
Step 8.2.2
Simplify by subtracting numbers.
Tap for more steps...
Step 8.2.2.1
Subtract from .
Step 8.2.2.2
Subtract from .
Step 8.2.3
The final answer is .
Step 8.3
At , the second derivative is . Since this is negative, the second derivative is decreasing on the interval
Decreasing on since
Decreasing on since
Step 9
An inflection point is a point on a curve at which the concavity changes sign from plus to minus or from minus to plus. There are no points on the graph that satisfy these requirements.
No Inflection Points