Post #19

Week 19

Well so my Christmas was pretty good, hope everyone else is as satisfied as me :-)

For my blog I guess I will explain the things I know really well..

Maxs and mins have to be one of the easiest things to do in Calculus. You are given a function, such as 2x^2 + 4x + 5. To find the max or min of this function, you take the derivative. The derivative is 4x + 4. Set this equal to 0, so 4x+4=0 and solve for x. When you solve, you get x=-1. So the x value of the vertex is -1. To find the actual point, you plug this in to the original to get the y-value of the vertex.

Point of inflection, which is the point where concavity changes, is also really easy and is like the same thing. The only difference is you take the second derivative. So for x^3 + 2x^2 + x + 4 ... it would be 3x^2 + 4x + 1 for first, 6x + 4 for second derivative. Set 6x+4=0 and solve for x to get that x=-2/3.

For maxs and mins, to find out if it is a max or a min, you have to use the derivative test. You have to set up intervals and then test them by plugging in points. If you get a positive number, the function is increasing. If you get a negative number, the function is decreasing. If it goes increasing, point, decreasing then it is a max. If it goes decreasing, point, increasing, then it is a min.

Anyway, I don't know what else to talk about for now. Enjoy the rest of your holidays!

AND BTW, according to http://www.wordcounttool.com/, my post is 267 words :-)