Calculus Examples

Find the Inflection Points f(x)=x/(4x^2-1)
Step 1
Find the second derivative.
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Step 1.1
Find the first derivative.
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Step 1.1.1
Differentiate using the Quotient Rule which states that is where and .
Step 1.1.2
Differentiate.
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Step 1.1.2.1
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 1.1.2.2
Multiply by .
Step 1.1.2.3
By the Sum Rule, the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.1.2.4
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.1.2.5
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 1.1.2.6
Multiply by .
Step 1.1.2.7
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.1.2.8
Simplify the expression.
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Step 1.1.2.8.1
Add and .
Step 1.1.2.8.2
Multiply by .
Step 1.1.3
Raise to the power of .
Step 1.1.4
Raise to the power of .
Step 1.1.5
Use the power rule to combine exponents.
Step 1.1.6
Add and .
Step 1.1.7
Subtract from .
Step 1.2
Find the second derivative.
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Step 1.2.1
Differentiate using the Quotient Rule which states that is where and .
Step 1.2.2
Differentiate.
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Step 1.2.2.1
Multiply the exponents in .
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Step 1.2.2.1.1
Apply the power rule and multiply exponents, .
Step 1.2.2.1.2
Multiply by .
Step 1.2.2.2
By the Sum Rule, the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.2.2.3
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.2.2.4
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 1.2.2.5
Multiply by .
Step 1.2.2.6
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.2.2.7
Add and .
Step 1.2.3
Differentiate using the chain rule, which states that is where and .
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Step 1.2.3.1
To apply the Chain Rule, set as .
Step 1.2.3.2
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 1.2.3.3
Replace all occurrences of with .
Step 1.2.4
Differentiate.
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Step 1.2.4.1
Multiply by .
Step 1.2.4.2
By the Sum Rule, the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.2.4.3
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.2.4.4
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 1.2.4.5
Multiply by .
Step 1.2.4.6
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.2.4.7
Simplify the expression.
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Step 1.2.4.7.1
Add and .
Step 1.2.4.7.2
Move to the left of .
Step 1.2.4.7.3
Multiply by .
Step 1.2.5
Simplify.
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Step 1.2.5.1
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.2.5.2
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.2.5.3
Simplify the numerator.
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Step 1.2.5.3.1
Simplify each term.
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.1
Rewrite using the commutative property of multiplication.
Step 1.2.5.3.1.2
Rewrite as .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.3
Expand using the FOIL Method.
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.3.1
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.2.5.3.1.3.2
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.2.5.3.1.3.3
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.2.5.3.1.4
Simplify and combine like terms.
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.4.1
Simplify each term.
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.4.1.1
Rewrite using the commutative property of multiplication.
Step 1.2.5.3.1.4.1.2
Multiply by by adding the exponents.
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.4.1.2.1
Move .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.4.1.2.2
Use the power rule to combine exponents.
Step 1.2.5.3.1.4.1.2.3
Add and .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.4.1.3
Multiply by .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.4.1.4
Multiply by .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.4.1.5
Multiply by .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.4.1.6
Multiply by .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.4.2
Subtract from .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.5
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.2.5.3.1.6
Simplify.
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.6.1
Multiply by .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.6.2
Multiply by .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.6.3
Multiply by .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.7
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.2.5.3.1.8
Simplify.
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.8.1
Multiply by by adding the exponents.
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.8.1.1
Move .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.8.1.2
Multiply by .
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.8.1.2.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.8.1.2.2
Use the power rule to combine exponents.
Step 1.2.5.3.1.8.1.3
Add and .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.8.2
Multiply by by adding the exponents.
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.8.2.1
Move .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.8.2.2
Multiply by .
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.8.2.2.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.8.2.2.2
Use the power rule to combine exponents.
Step 1.2.5.3.1.8.2.3
Add and .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.9
Simplify each term.
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.9.1
Multiply by .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.9.2
Multiply by .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.10
Simplify each term.
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.10.1
Multiply by by adding the exponents.
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.10.1.1
Move .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.10.1.2
Multiply by .
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.10.1.2.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.10.1.2.2
Use the power rule to combine exponents.
Step 1.2.5.3.1.10.1.3
Add and .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.10.2
Rewrite as .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.11
Expand using the FOIL Method.
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.11.1
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.2.5.3.1.11.2
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.2.5.3.1.11.3
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.2.5.3.1.12
Simplify and combine like terms.
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.1
Simplify each term.
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.1.1
Rewrite using the commutative property of multiplication.
Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.1.2
Multiply by by adding the exponents.
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.1.2.1
Move .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.1.2.2
Use the power rule to combine exponents.
Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.1.2.3
Add and .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.1.3
Multiply by .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.1.4
Rewrite using the commutative property of multiplication.
Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.1.5
Multiply by by adding the exponents.
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.1.5.1
Move .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.1.5.2
Multiply by .
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Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.1.5.2.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.1.5.2.2
Use the power rule to combine exponents.
Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.1.5.3
Add and .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.1.6
Multiply by .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.1.7
Multiply by .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.1.8
Multiply by .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.2
Add and .
Step 1.2.5.3.1.12.3
Add and .
Step 1.2.5.3.2
Add and .
Step 1.2.5.3.3
Subtract from .
Step 1.2.5.4
Simplify the numerator.
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Step 1.2.5.4.1
Factor out of .
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Step 1.2.5.4.1.1
Factor out of .
Step 1.2.5.4.1.2
Factor out of .
Step 1.2.5.4.1.3
Factor out of .
Step 1.2.5.4.1.4
Factor out of .
Step 1.2.5.4.1.5
Factor out of .
Step 1.2.5.4.2
Rewrite as .
Step 1.2.5.4.3
Let . Substitute for all occurrences of .
Step 1.2.5.4.4
Factor by grouping.
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Step 1.2.5.4.4.1
For a polynomial of the form , rewrite the middle term as a sum of two terms whose product is and whose sum is .
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Step 1.2.5.4.4.1.1
Factor out of .
Step 1.2.5.4.4.1.2
Rewrite as plus
Step 1.2.5.4.4.1.3
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.2.5.4.4.2
Factor out the greatest common factor from each group.
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Step 1.2.5.4.4.2.1
Group the first two terms and the last two terms.
Step 1.2.5.4.4.2.2
Factor out the greatest common factor (GCF) from each group.
Step 1.2.5.4.4.3
Factor the polynomial by factoring out the greatest common factor, .
Step 1.2.5.4.5
Replace all occurrences of with .
Step 1.2.5.4.6
Rewrite as .
Step 1.2.5.4.7
Rewrite as .
Step 1.2.5.4.8
Since both terms are perfect squares, factor using the difference of squares formula, where and .
Step 1.2.5.5
Simplify the denominator.
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Step 1.2.5.5.1
Rewrite as .
Step 1.2.5.5.2
Rewrite as .
Step 1.2.5.5.3
Since both terms are perfect squares, factor using the difference of squares formula, where and .
Step 1.2.5.5.4
Apply the product rule to .
Step 1.2.5.6
Cancel the common factor of and .
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Step 1.2.5.6.1
Factor out of .
Step 1.2.5.6.2
Cancel the common factors.
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Step 1.2.5.6.2.1
Factor out of .
Step 1.2.5.6.2.2
Cancel the common factor.
Step 1.2.5.6.2.3
Rewrite the expression.
Step 1.2.5.7
Cancel the common factor of and .
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Step 1.2.5.7.1
Factor out of .
Step 1.2.5.7.2
Cancel the common factors.
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Step 1.2.5.7.2.1
Factor out of .
Step 1.2.5.7.2.2
Cancel the common factor.
Step 1.2.5.7.2.3
Rewrite the expression.
Step 1.3
The second derivative of with respect to is .
Step 2
Set the second derivative equal to then solve the equation .
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Step 2.1
Set the second derivative equal to .
Step 2.2
Set the numerator equal to zero.
Step 2.3
Solve the equation for .
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Step 2.3.1
If any individual factor on the left side of the equation is equal to , the entire expression will be equal to .
Step 2.3.2
Set equal to .
Step 2.3.3
Set equal to and solve for .
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Step 2.3.3.1
Set equal to .
Step 2.3.3.2
Solve for .
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Step 2.3.3.2.1
Subtract from both sides of the equation.
Step 2.3.3.2.2
Divide each term in by and simplify.
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Step 2.3.3.2.2.1
Divide each term in by .
Step 2.3.3.2.2.2
Simplify the left side.
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Step 2.3.3.2.2.2.1
Cancel the common factor of .
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Step 2.3.3.2.2.2.1.1
Cancel the common factor.
Step 2.3.3.2.2.2.1.2
Divide by .
Step 2.3.3.2.2.3
Simplify the right side.
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Step 2.3.3.2.2.3.1
Move the negative in front of the fraction.
Step 2.3.3.2.3
Take the specified root of both sides of the equation to eliminate the exponent on the left side.
Step 2.3.3.2.4
Simplify .
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Step 2.3.3.2.4.1
Rewrite as .
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Step 2.3.3.2.4.1.1
Rewrite as .
Step 2.3.3.2.4.1.2
Factor the perfect power out of .
Step 2.3.3.2.4.1.3
Factor the perfect power out of .
Step 2.3.3.2.4.1.4
Rearrange the fraction .
Step 2.3.3.2.4.1.5
Rewrite as .
Step 2.3.3.2.4.2
Pull terms out from under the radical.
Step 2.3.3.2.4.3
Combine and .
Step 2.3.3.2.5
The complete solution is the result of both the positive and negative portions of the solution.
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Step 2.3.3.2.5.1
First, use the positive value of the to find the first solution.
Step 2.3.3.2.5.2
Next, use the negative value of the to find the second solution.
Step 2.3.3.2.5.3
The complete solution is the result of both the positive and negative portions of the solution.
Step 2.3.4
The final solution is all the values that make true.
Step 3
Find the points where the second derivative is .
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Step 3.1
Substitute in to find the value of .
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Step 3.1.1
Replace the variable with in the expression.
Step 3.1.2
Simplify the result.
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Step 3.1.2.1
Simplify the denominator.
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Step 3.1.2.1.1
Raising to any positive power yields .
Step 3.1.2.1.2
Multiply by .
Step 3.1.2.1.3
Subtract from .
Step 3.1.2.2
Divide by .
Step 3.1.2.3
The final answer is .
Step 3.2
The point found by substituting in is . This point can be an inflection point.
Step 4
Split into intervals around the points that could potentially be inflection points.
Step 5
Substitute a value from the interval into the second derivative to determine if it is increasing or decreasing.
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Step 5.1
Replace the variable with in the expression.
Step 5.2
Simplify the result.
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Step 5.2.1
Simplify the numerator.
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Step 5.2.1.1
Multiply by .
Step 5.2.1.2
Multiply by .
Step 5.2.2
Simplify the denominator.
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Step 5.2.2.1
Multiply by .
Step 5.2.2.2
Add and .
Step 5.2.2.3
Multiply by .
Step 5.2.2.4
Subtract from .
Step 5.2.2.5
Raise to the power of .
Step 5.2.2.6
Raise to the power of .
Step 5.2.3
Simplify the expression.
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Step 5.2.3.1
Multiply by .
Step 5.2.3.2
Divide by .
Step 5.2.4
The final answer is .
Step 5.3
At , the second derivative is . Since this is positive, the second derivative is increasing on the interval .
Increasing on since
Increasing on since
Step 6
Substitute a value from the interval into the second derivative to determine if it is increasing or decreasing.
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Step 6.1
Replace the variable with in the expression.
Step 6.2
Simplify the result.
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Step 6.2.1
Simplify the numerator.
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Step 6.2.1.1
Multiply by .
Step 6.2.1.2
Multiply by .
Step 6.2.2
Simplify the denominator.
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Step 6.2.2.1
Multiply by .
Step 6.2.2.2
Add and .
Step 6.2.2.3
Multiply by .
Step 6.2.2.4
Subtract from .
Step 6.2.2.5
Raise to the power of .
Step 6.2.2.6
Raise to the power of .
Step 6.2.3
Simplify the expression.
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Step 6.2.3.1
Multiply by .
Step 6.2.3.2
Divide by .
Step 6.2.4
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
An inflection point is a point on a curve at which the concavity changes sign from plus to minus or from minus to plus. The inflection point in this case is .
Step 8