Derivative

In mathematics, the derivative is one of the two central concepts of calculus. (The other is the integral; the two are related via the fundamental theorem of calculus.)

Using derivatives to graph functions

Derivatives are a useful tool for examining the graphs of functions. In particular, the points in the interior of the domain of a real-valued function which take that function to local extrema will all have a first derivative of zero. However, not all critical points are local extrema; for example, f(x)=x3 has a critical point at x=0, but it has neither a maximum nor a minimum there. The first derivative test and the second derivative test provide ways to determine if the critical points are maxima, minima or neither.

Related Topics:
Graphs of functions - Extrema - First derivative test - Second derivative test

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In the case of multidimensional domains, the function will have a partial derivative of zero with respect to each dimension at local extrema. In this case, the Second Derivative Test can still be used to characterize critical points, by considering the eigenvalues of the Hessian matrix of second partial derivatives of the function at the critical point. If all of the eigenvalues are positive, then the point is a local minimum; if all are negative, it is a local maximum. If there are some positive and some negative eigenvalues, then the critical point is a saddle point, and if none of these cases hold then the test is inconclusive (e.g., eigenvalues of 0 and 3).

Related Topics:
Eigenvalue - Hessian matrix - Saddle point

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Once the local extrema have been found, it is usually rather easy to get a rough idea of the general graph of the function, since (in the single-dimensional domain case) it will be uniformly increasing or decreasing except at critical points, and hence (assuming it is continuous) will have values in between its values at the critical points on either side.

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