Calculus Examples

$y = x^{2}$

Step 1

Write $y = x^{2}$ as a function.

$f (x) = x^{2}$

Step 2

Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that $\frac{d}{d x} [x^{n}]$ is $n x^{n - 1}$ where $n = 2$ .

$2 x$

Step 3

Find the second derivative of the function.

Tap for more steps...

Step 3.1

Since $2$ is constant with respect to $x$ , the derivative of $2 x$ with respect to $x$ is $2 \frac{d}{d x} [x]$ .

$f'' (x) = 2 \frac{d}{d x} (x)$

Step 3.2

Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that $\frac{d}{d x} [x^{n}]$ is $n x^{n - 1}$ where $n = 1$ .

$f'' (x) = 2 \cdot 1$

Step 3.3

Multiply $2$ by $1$ .

$f'' (x) = 2$

Step 4

To find the local maximum and minimum values of the function, set the derivative equal to $0$ and solve.

$2 x = 0$

Step 5

Find the first derivative.

Tap for more steps...

Step 5.1

Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that $\frac{d}{d x} [x^{n}]$ is $n x^{n - 1}$ where $n = 2$ .

$f' (x) = 2 x$

Step 5.2

The first derivative of $f (x)$ with respect to $x$ is $2 x$ .

$2 x$

Step 6

Set the first derivative equal to $0$ then solve the equation $2 x = 0$ .

Tap for more steps...

Step 6.1

Set the first derivative equal to $0$ .

$2 x = 0$

Step 6.2

Divide each term in $2 x = 0$ by $2$ and simplify.

Tap for more steps...

Step 6.2.1

Divide each term in $2 x = 0$ by $2$ .

$\frac{2 x}{2} = \frac{0}{2}$

Step 6.2.2

Simplify the left side.

Tap for more steps...

Step 6.2.2.1

Cancel the common factor of $2$ .

Tap for more steps...

Step 6.2.2.1.1

Cancel the common factor.

$\frac{2 x}{2} = \frac{0}{2}$

Step 6.2.2.1.2

Divide $x$ by $1$ .

$x = \frac{0}{2}$

Step 6.2.3

Simplify the right side.

Tap for more steps...

Step 6.2.3.1

Divide $0$ by $2$ .

$x = 0$

Step 7

Find the values where the derivative is undefined.

Tap for more steps...

Step 7.1

The domain of the expression is all real numbers except where the expression is undefined. In this case, there is no real number that makes the expression undefined.

Step 8

Critical points to evaluate.

$x = 0$

Step 9

Evaluate the second derivative at $x = 0$ . If the second derivative is positive, then this is a local minimum. If it is negative, then this is a local maximum.

$2$

Step 10

$x = 0$ is a local minimum because the value of the second derivative is positive. This is referred to as the second derivative test.

$x = 0$ is a local minimum

Step 11

Find the y-value when $x = 0$ .

Tap for more steps...

Step 11.1

Replace the variable $x$ with $0$ in the expression.

$f (0) = {(0)}^{2}$

Step 11.2

Simplify the result.

Tap for more steps...

Step 11.2.1

Raising $0$ to any positive power yields $0$ .

$f (0) = 0$

Step 11.2.2

The final answer is $0$ .

$y = 0$

Step 12

These are the local extrema for $f (x) = x^{2}$ .

$(0, 0)$ is a local minima

Step 13