AP Calculus AB : AP Calculus AB

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Calculus AB

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Example Questions

Example Question #4 : Understanding Derivatives Of Exponents

What is  ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Therefore, 

 for any positive , so , and

 

 

Example Question #61 : Derivatives

Give the instantaneous rate of change of the function  at .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The instantaneous rate of change of  at  is , so we will find  and evaluate it at .

 for any positive , so 

Example Question #62 : Derivatives

Find the derivative of the following function:

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The derivative of  is. It is probably best to memorize this fact (the proof follows from the difference quotient definition of a derivative).

Our function 

the factor of 3 does not change when we differentiate, therefore the answer is

Example Question #63 : Derivatives

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The derivative of a sine function does not follow the power rule. It is one that should be memorized.

.

Example Question #64 : Derivatives

What is the second derivative of ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The derivatives of trig functions must be memorized. The first derivative is:

.

To find the second derivative, we take the derivative of our result.

.

Therefore, the second derivative will be .

Example Question #2 : Derivative Review

Find the derivative of the function

.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

We can use the Chain Rule:

Let , so that .

 

Example Question #65 : Derivatives

Compute the derivative of the function .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Use the Chain Rule.

Set  and substitute.

 

 

Example Question #72 : Derivative As A Function

At the point , is the function  increasing or decreasing, concave or convex?

Possible Answers:

Increasing, concave

Increasing, convex

Decreasing, convex

The function is undefined at that point

Decreasing, concave

Correct answer:

Decreasing, convex

Explanation:

First, let's find out if the graph is increasing or decreasing. For that, we need the first derivative.

To find the first derivative, we can use the power rule. We lower the exponent on all the variables by one and multiply by the original variable.

We're going to treat  as  since anything to the zero power is one.

Notice that  since anything times zero is zero.

Plug in our given point for . If the result is positive, the function is increasing. If the result is negative, the function is decreasing.

Our result is negative, therefore the function is decreasing.

To find the concavity, look at the second derivative. If the function is positive at our given point, it is concave. If the function is negative, it is convex.

To find the second derivative we repeat the process, but using  as our expression.

As you can see, our second derivative is a constant. It doesn't matter what point we plug in for ; our output will always be negative. Therefore our graph will always be convex.

Combine our two pieces of information to see that at the given point, the graph is decreasing and convex.

Example Question #3 : Finding Regions Of Concavity And Convexity

When , what is the concavity of the graph of ?

Possible Answers:

Increasing, concave

Decreasing, concave

Decreasing, convex

There is insufficient data to solve.

Increasing, convex

Correct answer:

Increasing, convex

Explanation:

To find the concavity, we need to look at the first and second derivatives at the given point. 

To take the first derivative of this equation, use the power rule. The power rule says that we lower the exponent of each variable by one and multiply that number by the original exponent:

Simplify:

Remember that anything to the zero power is equal to one.

The first derivative tells us if the function is increasing or decreasing. Plug in the given point, , to see if the result is positive (i.e. increasing) or negative (i.e. decreasing).

Therefore the function is increasing.

To find out if the function is convex, we need to look at the second derivative evaluated at the same point, , and check if it is positive or negative.

We're going to treat  as  since anything to the zero power is equal to one.

Notice that  since anything times zero is zero.

Plug in our given value:

Since the second derivative is positive, the function is convex. 

Therefore, we are looking at a graph that is both increasing and convex at our given point.

Example Question #2 : Finding Regions Of Concavity And Convexity

At the point , is  increasing or decreasing, and is it concave or convex?

Possible Answers:

Increasing, convex

Decreasing, concave

Increasing, concave

The graph is undefined at point 

Decreasing, convex

Correct answer:

Decreasing, convex

Explanation:

To find out if the function is increasing or decreasing, we need to look at the first derivative.

To find the first derivative, we can use the power rule. We lower the exponent on all the variables by one and multiply by the original variable.

Anything to the zero power is one.

Now we plug in our given value and find out if the result is positive or negative. If it is positive, the function is increasing. If it is negative, the function is decreasing.

Therefore, the function is decreasing.

To find out if it is concave or convex, look at the second derivative. If the result is positive, it is convex. If it is negative, then it is concave.

To find the second derivative, we repeat the process using  as our expression.

We're going to treat  as .

Notice that  since anything times zero is zero.

As stated before, anything to the zero power is one.

Since we get a positive constant, it doesn't matter where we look on the graph, as our second derivative will always be positive. That means that this graph is going to be convex at our given point.

Therefore, the function is decreasing and convex at our given point.

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