Calculus Examples

Find Where Increasing/Decreasing Using Derivatives f(x)=x^4-3x^3+5x
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
Differentiate.
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Step 1.1.1.1
By the Sum Rule, the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.1.1.2
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 1.1.2
Evaluate .
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Step 1.1.2.1
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.1.2.2
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 1.1.2.3
Multiply by .
Step 1.1.3
Evaluate .
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Step 1.1.3.1
Since is constant with respect to , the derivative of with respect to is .
Step 1.1.3.2
Differentiate using the Power Rule which states that is where .
Step 1.1.3.3
Multiply by .
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 using the rational roots test.
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Step 2.2.1
If a polynomial function has integer coefficients, then every rational zero will have the form where is a factor of the constant and is a factor of the leading coefficient.
Step 2.2.2
Find every combination of . These are the possible roots of the polynomial function.
Step 2.2.3
Substitute and simplify the expression. In this case, the expression is equal to so is a root of the polynomial.
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Step 2.2.3.1
Substitute into the polynomial.
Step 2.2.3.2
Raise to the power of .
Step 2.2.3.3
Multiply by .
Step 2.2.3.4
Raise to the power of .
Step 2.2.3.5
Multiply by .
Step 2.2.3.6
Subtract from .
Step 2.2.3.7
Add and .
Step 2.2.4
Since is a known root, divide the polynomial by to find the quotient polynomial. This polynomial can then be used to find the remaining roots.
Step 2.2.5
Divide by .
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Step 2.2.5.1
Set up the polynomials to be divided. If there is not a term for every exponent, insert one with a value of .
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Step 2.2.5.2
Divide the highest order term in the dividend by the highest order term in divisor .
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Step 2.2.5.3
Multiply the new quotient term by the divisor.
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Step 2.2.5.4
The expression needs to be subtracted from the dividend, so change all the signs in
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Step 2.2.5.5
After changing the signs, add the last dividend from the multiplied polynomial to find the new dividend.
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Step 2.2.5.6
Pull the next terms from the original dividend down into the current dividend.
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Step 2.2.5.7
Divide the highest order term in the dividend by the highest order term in divisor .
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Step 2.2.5.8
Multiply the new quotient term by the divisor.
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-+
Step 2.2.5.9
The expression needs to be subtracted from the dividend, so change all the signs in
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+-
Step 2.2.5.10
After changing the signs, add the last dividend from the multiplied polynomial to find the new dividend.
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Step 2.2.5.11
Pull the next terms from the original dividend down into the current dividend.
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--++
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+-
-+
Step 2.2.5.12
Divide the highest order term in the dividend by the highest order term in divisor .
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+-
-+
Step 2.2.5.13
Multiply the new quotient term by the divisor.
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--++
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+-
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-+
Step 2.2.5.14
The expression needs to be subtracted from the dividend, so change all the signs in
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--++
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+-
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+-
Step 2.2.5.15
After changing the signs, add the last dividend from the multiplied polynomial to find the new dividend.
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Step 2.2.5.16
Since the remander is , the final answer is the quotient.
Step 2.2.6
Write as a set of factors.
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
Use the quadratic formula to find the solutions.
Step 2.5.2.2
Substitute the values , , and into the quadratic formula and solve for .
Step 2.5.2.3
Simplify.
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Step 2.5.2.3.1
Simplify the numerator.
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Step 2.5.2.3.1.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 2.5.2.3.1.2
Multiply .
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Step 2.5.2.3.1.2.1
Multiply by .
Step 2.5.2.3.1.2.2
Multiply by .
Step 2.5.2.3.1.3
Add and .
Step 2.5.2.3.2
Multiply by .
Step 2.5.2.4
Simplify the expression to solve for the portion of the .
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Step 2.5.2.4.1
Simplify the numerator.
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Step 2.5.2.4.1.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 2.5.2.4.1.2
Multiply .
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Step 2.5.2.4.1.2.1
Multiply by .
Step 2.5.2.4.1.2.2
Multiply by .
Step 2.5.2.4.1.3
Add and .
Step 2.5.2.4.2
Multiply by .
Step 2.5.2.4.3
Change the to .
Step 2.5.2.5
Simplify the expression to solve for the portion of the .
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Step 2.5.2.5.1
Simplify the numerator.
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Step 2.5.2.5.1.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 2.5.2.5.1.2
Multiply .
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Step 2.5.2.5.1.2.1
Multiply by .
Step 2.5.2.5.1.2.2
Multiply by .
Step 2.5.2.5.1.3
Add and .
Step 2.5.2.5.2
Multiply by .
Step 2.5.2.5.3
Change the to .
Step 2.5.2.6
The final answer is the combination of both solutions.
Step 2.6
The final solution is all the values that make true.
Step 3
The values which make the derivative equal to are .
Step 4
Split into separate intervals around the values that make the derivative or undefined.
Step 5
Substitute a value from the interval into the derivative to determine if the function 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 each term.
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Step 5.2.1.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 5.2.1.2
Multiply by .
Step 5.2.1.3
Raise to the power of .
Step 5.2.1.4
Multiply by .
Step 5.2.2
Simplify by adding and subtracting.
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Step 5.2.2.1
Subtract from .
Step 5.2.2.2
Add and .
Step 5.2.3
The final answer is .
Step 5.3
At the derivative is . Since this is negative, the function is decreasing on .
Decreasing on since
Decreasing on since
Step 6
Substitute a value from the interval into the derivative to determine if the function 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 each term.
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Step 6.2.1.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 6.2.1.2
Multiply by .
Step 6.2.1.3
Raise to the power of .
Step 6.2.1.4
Multiply by .
Step 6.2.2
Simplify by adding and subtracting.
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Step 6.2.2.1
Subtract from .
Step 6.2.2.2
Add and .
Step 6.2.3
The final answer is .
Step 6.3
At the derivative is . Since this is positive, the function is increasing on .
Increasing on since
Increasing on since
Step 7
Substitute a value from the interval into the derivative to determine if the function is increasing or decreasing.
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Step 7.1
Replace the variable with in the expression.
Step 7.2
Simplify the result.
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Step 7.2.1
Simplify each term.
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Step 7.2.1.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 7.2.1.2
Multiply by .
Step 7.2.1.3
Raise to the power of .
Step 7.2.1.4
Multiply by .
Step 7.2.2
Simplify by adding and subtracting.
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Step 7.2.2.1
Subtract from .
Step 7.2.2.2
Add and .
Step 7.2.3
The final answer is .
Step 7.3
At the derivative is . Since this is negative, the function is decreasing on .
Decreasing on since
Decreasing on since
Step 8
Substitute a value from the interval into the derivative to determine if the function is increasing or decreasing.
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Step 8.1
Replace the variable with in the expression.
Step 8.2
Simplify the result.
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Step 8.2.1
Simplify each term.
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Step 8.2.1.1
Raise to the power of .
Step 8.2.1.2
Multiply by .
Step 8.2.1.3
Raise to the power of .
Step 8.2.1.4
Multiply by .
Step 8.2.2
Simplify by adding and subtracting.
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Step 8.2.2.1
Subtract from .
Step 8.2.2.2
Add and .
Step 8.2.3
The final answer is .
Step 8.3
At the derivative is . Since this is positive, the function is increasing on .
Increasing on since
Increasing on since
Step 9
List the intervals on which the function is increasing and decreasing.
Increasing on:
Decreasing on:
Step 10