AP Calculus AB : Slope of a curve at a point

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Calculus AB

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Example Questions

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Example Question #1 : Slope Of A Curve At A Point

Find the slope of the curve  at the point with x-coordinate .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the slope at a point, we take the derivative of , substitute in , and simplify.

 

.

.

Example Question #2 : Slope Of A Curve At A Point

Find the slope of at t=0.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

First, use the chain rule to find f'(t).

You should get .

Next, plug in t=0 to get f'(0)=.

Example Question #3 : Slope Of A Curve At A Point

Find the slope of the curve , at .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Find the derivative of the curve using the power rule.

In mathematical terms, the power rule states,

Therefore the derivative is,

  

Next, plug in the x-value to find the slope of the curve at , which gives you a final answer of 

Example Question #4 : Slope Of A Curve At A Point

Find the slope of the curve, , at .

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Expand the binomial and combine like terms to get, 

 

Next, take the derivative of the polynomial using the power rule, which is in mathematical terms,

Therefore,

Lastly, plug in  for , to get the slope at the point.

This gives you your final answer of 

Example Question #5 : Slope Of A Curve At A Point

Find the slope at the point (1,2) of the function

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Derivatives are slope finders. Therefore to find the slope at the given point, we need to find the derivative of the function using power rule. Power rule says that we take the exponent of the “x” value and bring it to the front. Then we subtract one from the exponent.

So, we get 

From there we plug in our x value.

Example Question #6 : Slope Of A Curve At A Point

Find the slope of the function  at the point 

Possible Answers:

None of the other answers

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the slope at a point of our function, we need to find its derivative first.

Using the product rule (and the chain rule within this product rule application), we have

.

Plugging the -value of our point into this equation, we get our desired slope of

.

Example Question #121 : Derivatives

If , what is the slope of the curve at the point ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find the slope at a point, we first find the derivative of our function, and then substitute in the -value of our point.

, so , and plugging in our -value gives .

Example Question #122 : Derivatives

Find the rate of change of f(x) at the point (4,12).

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Find the rate of change of f(x) at the point (4,12)

We are asked to find a rate of change, so begin by finding the first derivative.

Now, we need the rate of change at (4,12). What matters most is the x value, simply plug it into our derivative and solve for y

So, our answer is 1271

Example Question #123 : Derivatives

Find the slope of the line tangent to f(x) at the point x=0.

 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Find the slope of the line tangent to f(x) at the point x=0

To find the slope of a tangent line, we must first find the derivative of our function.

Let's recall a few rules to help us out.

1) The derivative of a monomial can be found by multiplying the coefficient by the exponent, and then decreasing the exponent by 1.

2) The derivative of e to the x is e to the x

3) The derivative of cosine is negative sine

Now, put it all together to get:

Lastly, we need to plug in 0 for x and solve our equation.

So, our answer is 0

Example Question #124 : Derivatives

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

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