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Mathematics 6 Online
OpenStudy (christos):

CALCULUS: How do I find the Inflection point? http://screencast.com/t/M74UKjB9B5

OpenStudy (anonymous):

take the second derivative

OpenStudy (christos):

and then?

OpenStudy (anonymous):

if its negative, its concave down, if its positie its concave up.

OpenStudy (anonymous):

or take the first derivative

OpenStudy (anonymous):

find when its zero, and check that the left side is the same sign as the right side

OpenStudy (mertsj):

Where the second derivative is undefined or 0 we have an inflection point.

OpenStudy (christos):

But how do I calculate the very inflection point? @ganeshie8 can you give a hand please?

OpenStudy (christos):

@robtobey @agent0smith

OpenStudy (agent0smith):

For 15, there won't be an inflection point - the function's second derivative is f'' = 2, which means it's concave up everywhere (since f'' is 2 everywhere). To find where f is decreasing/increasing, you just want the turning point - find this by getting f' and setting f' = 0 and solving for x. Then pick values to the left and right of that x point, and check the sign of f' at those points. + means increasing, - means decreasing. |dw:1368260277690:dw|

OpenStudy (agent0smith):

Same deal for 16, no inflection point (f'' can never be zero)

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