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The higher-order derivative test or general derivative test is able to determine whether a function's critical points are maxima, minima, or points of inflection for a wider variety of functions than the second-order derivative test. As shown below, the second-derivative test is mathematically identical to the special case of n = 1 in the ...
Graph of the function 3x 3-5x 2 +8 (black) and its first (9x 2-10x, red) and second (18x-10, blue) derivatives.An x value where the y value of the red, or the blue, curve vanishes (becomes 0) gives rise to a local extremum (marked "HP", "TP"), or an inflection point ("WP"), of the black curve, respectively.
This is called the second derivative test. An alternative approach, called the first derivative test, involves considering the sign of the f' on each side of the critical point. Taking derivatives and solving for critical points is therefore often a simple way to find local minima or maxima, which can be useful in optimization.
Calculus of variations is concerned with variations of functionals, which are small changes in the functional's value due to small changes in the function that is its argument. The first variation [l] is defined as the linear part of the change in the functional, and the second variation [m] is defined as the quadratic part. [22]
One application of higher-order derivatives is in physics. Suppose that a function represents the position of an object at the time. The first derivative of that function is the velocity of an object with respect to time, the second derivative of the function is the acceleration of an object with respect to time, [29] and the third derivative ...
The second derivative of a function f can be used to determine the concavity of the graph of f. [2] A function whose second derivative is positive is said to be concave up (also referred to as convex), meaning that the tangent line near the point where it touches the function will lie below the graph of the function.
One can do this either by evaluating the function at each point and taking the maximum, or by analyzing the derivatives further, using the first derivative test, the second derivative test, or the higher-order derivative test.
Then there is a number c in (a, b) such that the n th derivative of f at c is zero. The red curve is the graph of function with 3 roots in the interval [−3, 2]. Thus its second derivative (graphed in green) also has a root in the same interval.