Originally posted by tradewind
i got confused half way through. could you help me on this one.
find any points of inflexion in the curve y=2x^4 - 4x^3 - 24x^2 +6x-8
Originally posted by jesshika
find the second derivative and set it to zero ..
solve for x
den you test for changes in concavity
So... y = 2x<sup>4</sup> - 4x<sup>3</sup> - 24x<sup>2</sup> + 6x - 8
dy/dx = 8x<sup>3</sup> - 12x<sup>2</sup> - 48x + 6
d<sup>2</sup>y/dx<sup>2</sup> = 24x<sup>2</sup> - 24x - 48 = 24(x<sup>2</sup> - x - 2) = 24(x - 2)(x + 1)
For inflections, we examine d<sup>2</sup>y/dx<sup>2</sup> = 0, which has solutions x = -1 and x = 2.
When x = -1, y = 2(-1)<sup>4</sup> - 4(-1)<sup>3</sup> - 24(-1)<sup>2</sup> + 6(-1) - 8 = 2 + 4 - 24 - 6 - 8 = - 32 ----- Point is (-1, -32)
When x = 2, y = 2(2)<sup>4</sup> - 4(2)<sup>3</sup> - 24(2)<sup>2</sup> + 6(2) - 8 = 32 - 32 - 96 + 12 - 8 = - 92 ----- Point is (2, -92)
Now, we must test the nature of each of these, by checking if concavity changes sign.
x: -2 -1 0 2 3
sign of d<sup>2</sup>y/dx<sup>2</sup>: + 0 - 0 +
There is a change in concavity at both these points, and so (-1, -32) and (2, -92) are both points of inflexion.