What do the first and second derivative tests tell you?
The points are minimum, maximum, or turning points (points where the slope changes signs). The second derivative is the concavity of a function, and the second derivative test is used to determine if the critical points (from the first derivative test) are a local maximum or local minimum.
What information do you need to sketch a curve?
The following steps are taken in the process of curve sketching:
- Domain. Find the domain of the function and determine the points of discontinuity (if any).
- Intercepts.
- Symmetry.
- Asymptotes.
- Intervals of Increase and Decrease.
- Local Maximum and Minimum.
- Concavity/Convexity and Points of Inflection.
- Graph of the Function.
What does the first derivative graph tell you?
The first derivative of a function is an expression which tells us the slope of a tangent line to the curve at any instant. Because of this definition, the first derivative of a function tells us much about the function. If is positive, then must be increasing. If is negative, then must be decreasing.
What does the graph of the second derivative tell us?
The second derivative tells whether the curve is concave up or concave down at that point. If the second derivative is positive at a point, the graph is bending upwards at that point. Similarly if the second derivative is negative, the graph is concave down.
Is curve sketching important?
Curve sketching shows us how we can understand and predict the behavior of the function based on its first and second derivatives. Functions and their graphs are important not only in math but in other fields and applications as well.
How do you read a second derivative graph?
What does the first derivative test tell you?
First-derivative test. The first-derivative test examines a function’s monotonic properties (where the function is increasing or decreasing), focusing on a particular point in its domain. If the function “switches” from increasing to decreasing at the point, then the function will achieve a highest value at that point.