University Calculus: Early Transcendentals (3rd Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0321999584
ISBN 13: 978-0-32199-958-0

Chapter 2 - Section 2.1 - Rates of Change and Tangents to Curves - Exercises - Page 57: 12

Answer

The slope of the tangent line of the curve at $P$ is $-3$ The equation of the tangent line of the curve at $P$ is $y=-3x+4$

Work Step by Step

$$y=2-x^3\hspace{1cm} P(1,1)$$ 1) First, take $Q(1+h,y)$ to be a nearby point of $P$ on the graph of the function. $$y=2-(1+h)^3=2-(1+3h+3h^2+h^3)$$ $$y=2-1-3h-3h^2-h^3=1-3h-3h^2-h^3$$ So $Q(1+h,1-3h-3h^2-h^3)$ 2) Find the slope of the secant $PQ$: $$\frac{\Delta y}{\Delta x}=\frac{1-3h-3h^2-h^3-1}{1+h-1}=\frac{-3h-3h^2-h^3}{h}=-3-3h-h^2$$ 3) Find out what happens if $Q$ approaches $P$ As $Q$ approaches $P$, $1+h$ will gradually approach $1$, while $1-3h-3h^2-h^3$ also approaches $1$. Both of these mean that $h$ will approach $0$ and hence secant slope $-3-3h-h^2$ will approach $-3$. So we take $-3$ to be the slope of the tangent line of the curve at $P$. 4) The equation of the tangent line at $P$ would have this form: $$y=-3x+b$$ Replace the coordinates of $P$ here to find $b$: $$(-3)\times1+b=1$$ $$-3+b=1$$ $$b=4$$ Therefore, the equation of the tangent line of the curve at $P$ is $y=-3x+4$
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