Calculus Examples

Find the Critical Points f(x)=(x-1)^2(x-3)
Step 1
Find the first derivative.
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Step 1.1
Find the first derivative.
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Step 1.1.1
Rewrite as .
Step 1.1.2
Expand using the FOIL Method.
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Step 1.1.2.1
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.1.2.2
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.1.2.3
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.1.3
Simplify and combine like terms.
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Step 1.1.3.1
Simplify each term.
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Step 1.1.3.1.1
Multiply by .
Step 1.1.3.1.2
Move to the left of .
Step 1.1.3.1.3
Rewrite as .
Step 1.1.3.1.4
Rewrite as .
Step 1.1.3.1.5
Multiply by .
Step 1.1.3.2
Subtract from .
Step 1.1.4
Differentiate using the Product Rule which states that is where and .
Step 1.1.5
Differentiate.
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Step 1.1.5.1
By the Sum Rule, the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.1.5.2
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 1.1.5.3
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.1.5.4
Simplify the expression.
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Step 1.1.5.4.1
Add and .
Step 1.1.5.4.2
Multiply by .
Step 1.1.5.5
By the Sum Rule, the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.1.5.6
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 1.1.5.7
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.1.5.8
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 1.1.5.9
Multiply by .
Step 1.1.5.10
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.1.5.11
Add and .
Step 1.1.6
Simplify.
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Step 1.1.6.1
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.1.6.2
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.1.6.3
Apply the distributive property.
Step 1.1.6.4
Combine terms.
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Step 1.1.6.4.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 1.1.6.4.2
Raise to the power of .
Step 1.1.6.4.3
Use the power rule to combine exponents.
Step 1.1.6.4.4
Add and .
Step 1.1.6.4.5
Multiply by .
Step 1.1.6.4.6
Move to the left of .
Step 1.1.6.4.7
Multiply by .
Step 1.1.6.4.8
Subtract from .
Step 1.1.6.4.9
Add and .
Step 1.1.6.4.10
Subtract from .
Step 1.1.6.4.11
Add and .
Step 1.2
The first derivative of with respect to is .
Step 2
Set the first derivative equal to then solve the equation .
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Step 2.1
Set the first derivative equal to .
Step 2.2
Factor by grouping.
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Step 2.2.1
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 2.2.1.1
Factor out of .
Step 2.2.1.2
Rewrite as plus
Step 2.2.1.3
Apply the distributive property.
Step 2.2.2
Factor out the greatest common factor from each group.
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Step 2.2.2.1
Group the first two terms and the last two terms.
Step 2.2.2.2
Factor out the greatest common factor (GCF) from each group.
Step 2.2.3
Factor the polynomial by factoring out the greatest common factor, .
Step 2.3
If any individual factor on the left side of the equation is equal to , the entire expression will be equal to .
Step 2.4
Set equal to and solve for .
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Step 2.4.1
Set equal to .
Step 2.4.2
Add to both sides of the equation.
Step 2.5
Set equal to and solve for .
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Step 2.5.1
Set equal to .
Step 2.5.2
Solve for .
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Step 2.5.2.1
Add to both sides of the equation.
Step 2.5.2.2
Divide each term in by and simplify.
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Step 2.5.2.2.1
Divide each term in by .
Step 2.5.2.2.2
Simplify the left side.
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Step 2.5.2.2.2.1
Cancel the common factor of .
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Step 2.5.2.2.2.1.1
Cancel the common factor.
Step 2.5.2.2.2.1.2
Divide by .
Step 2.6
The final solution is all the values that make true.
Step 3
Find the values where the derivative is undefined.
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Step 3.1
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 4
Evaluate at each value where the derivative is or undefined.
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Step 4.1
Evaluate at .
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Step 4.1.1
Substitute for .
Step 4.1.2
Simplify.
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Step 4.1.2.1
Subtract from .
Step 4.1.2.2
Raising to any positive power yields .
Step 4.1.2.3
Subtract from .
Step 4.1.2.4
Multiply by .
Step 4.2
Evaluate at .
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Step 4.2.1
Substitute for .
Step 4.2.2
Simplify.
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Step 4.2.2.1
To write as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by .
Step 4.2.2.2
Combine and .
Step 4.2.2.3
Combine the numerators over the common denominator.
Step 4.2.2.4
Simplify the numerator.
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Step 4.2.2.4.1
Multiply by .
Step 4.2.2.4.2
Subtract from .
Step 4.2.2.5
Apply the product rule to .
Step 4.2.2.6
Raise to the power of .
Step 4.2.2.7
Raise to the power of .
Step 4.2.2.8
To write as a fraction with a common denominator, multiply by .
Step 4.2.2.9
Combine and .
Step 4.2.2.10
Combine the numerators over the common denominator.
Step 4.2.2.11
Simplify the numerator.
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Step 4.2.2.11.1
Multiply by .
Step 4.2.2.11.2
Subtract from .
Step 4.2.2.12
Move the negative in front of the fraction.
Step 4.2.2.13
Multiply .
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Step 4.2.2.13.1
Multiply by .
Step 4.2.2.13.2
Multiply by .
Step 4.2.2.13.3
Multiply by .
Step 4.3
List all of the points.
Step 5