AP Calculus AB : Derivative as a function

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Calculus AB

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Example Questions

Example Question #46 : Relationship Between The Increasing And Decreasing Behavior Of ƒ And The Sign Of ƒ'

Determine the intervals on which the function is increasing:

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To determine the intervals on which the function is increasing, we must determine the intervals on which the function's first derivative is positive.

The first derivative of the function is equal to

and was found using the following rules:

Next, we must find the critical values, at which the first derivative is equal to zero:

Using the critical values, we now create intervals on which to evaluate the sign of the first derivative:

Notice how at the bounds of the intervals, the first derivative is neither positive nor negative, nor is it defined at 

Evaluating the sign simply by plugging in any value on the given interval into the first derivative function, we find that on the first interval, the first derivative is positive, on the second and third intervals, the first derivative is negative, and on the fourth interval, the first derivative is positive. Thus, the function is increasing on 

Example Question #47 : Relationship Between The Increasing And Decreasing Behavior Of ƒ And The Sign Of ƒ'

Which function has a positive slope at x=5?

Possible Answers:

None of the other answers.

Correct answer:

Explanation:

 is the only function listed with a positive slope at . The sign of the slope at of a function at a point is determined by the value first derivative of the function at the corresponding point (i.e., , , , and ). 

 

 

61 is positive, and so,  has a positive slope at . The other derivative functions listed have non-positive outputs at .

Example Question #51 : Derivative As A Function

Find the area of the region enclosed by the parabola y=12-x^2 and y=-x.

Possible Answers:

 

 

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The two curves intersect in between  and , which can be found by solving the quadratic equation 12-x^2=-x.

To solve for the area between curves,  and , we use the formula A=\int^b_a(f(x)-g(x))dx

For our problem:

A=\int^4_{-3}(12-x^2-(-x))dx

A=12x-\frac{x^3}{3}+\frac{x^2}{2} evaluated from  to which yields .

Example Question #52 : Derivative As A Function

Find the area under the curve f(x)=\frac{1}{\sqrt{x+2}} between 2\leq x\leq 7.

Possible Answers:

4

2

5

1

3

Correct answer:

2

Explanation:

To find the area under the curve, we need to integrate. In this case, it is a definite integral.

\int_{2}^{7}\frac{1}{\sqrt{x+2}}dx=2\sqrt{x+2}\Big|_2^7=2

Example Question #2 : Mean Value Theorem

Find the area bounded by y=2, y=x, y=\frac{1}{9}x^2, x=3

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The easiest way to look at this is to plot the graphs. The shaded area is the actual area that we want to compute. We can first find area bounded by  and  in the first quadrant and subtract the excessive areas. The area of that rectangle box is 6. The area under the curve  is .

The area of the triangle above the curve  is 2. Therefore, the area bounded is .

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Example Question #1 : Mean Value Theorem

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Example Question #1 : Mean Value Theorem

Consider the region bounded by the functions

  and

between  and .  What is the area of this region?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The area of this region is given by the following integral:

 or

Taking the antiderivative gives

, evaluated from  to .

, and 

.

Thus, the area is given by:

Example Question #53 : Derivative As A Function

Let .

True or false: As a consequence of Rolle's Theorem,  has a zero on the interval .

Possible Answers:

False

True

Correct answer:

False

Explanation:

By Rolle's Theorem, if  is continuous on  and differentiable on , and , then there must be  such that . Nothing in the statement of this theorem addresses the location of the zeroes of the function itself. Therefore, the statement is false.

Example Question #2 : Mean Value Theorem

As a consequence of the Mean Value Theorem, there must be a value  such that:

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

By the Mean Value Theorem (MVT), if a function  is continuous and differentiable on , then there exists at least one value  such that , a polynomial, is continuous and differentiable everywhere; setting , it follows from the MVT that there is  such that 

Evaluating  and :

The expression for  is equal to 

,

the correct choice.

 

Example Question #3 : Mean Value Theorem

 is continuous and differentiable on .

The values of  for five different values of  are as follows:

Which of the following is a consequence of Rolle's Theorem?

Possible Answers:

None of the statements in the other choices follows from Rolle's Theorem.

There cannot be  such that .

 must have a zero on the interval ,

There must be  such that .

 cannot have a zero on the interval ,

Correct answer:

There must be  such that .

Explanation:

By Rolle's Theorem, if  is continuous on  and differentiable on , and , then there must be  such that 

 is given to be continuous. Also, if we set , we note that . This sets up the conditions for Rolle's Theorem to apply. As a consequence, there must be  such that .

Incidentally, it does follow from the given information that  must have a zero on the interval , but this is due to the Intermediate Value Theorem, not Rolle's Theorem.

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