Determine the intervals for which the function is concave up or concave down. State the inflection points.
Table of contents
- 0. Functions4h 53m
- 1. Limits and Continuity2h 2m
- 2. Intro to Derivatives1h 33m
- 3. Techniques of Differentiation2h 18m
- 4. Derivatives of Exponential & Logarithmic Functions1h 16m
- 5. Applications of Derivatives2h 19m
- 6. Graphical Applications of Derivatives6h 0m
- 7. Antiderivatives & Indefinite Integrals48m
- 8. Definite Integrals4h 36m
- 9. Graphical Applications of Integrals1h 43m
- 10. Integrals of Inverse, Exponential, & Logarithmic Functions21m
- 11. Techniques of Integration2h 7m
- 12. Trigonometric Functions6h 54m
- Angles29m
- Trigonometric Functions on Right Triangles1h 8m
- Solving Right Triangles23m
- Trigonometric Functions on the Unit Circle1h 19m
- Graphs of Sine & Cosine46m
- Graphs of Other Trigonometric Functions32m
- Trigonometric Identities52m
- Derivatives of Trig Functions42m
- Integrals of Basic Trig Functions28m
- Integrals of Other Trig Functions10m
- 13: Intro to Differential Equations2h 23m
- 14. Sequences & Series2h 8m
- 15. Power Series2h 19m
- 16. Probability & Calculus45m
6. Graphical Applications of Derivatives
Concavity
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The graph of f′(x)is shown below. Use the graph to determine the intervals for which f(x)is concave up or concave down and the location of any inflection points.

A
Concave up: (−∞,0), (1,∞); Concave down: (0,1); Inflection points: x=0, x=1
B
Concave up: (−∞,0), (1,∞); Concave down: (0,1); Inflection points: x=−1, x=0, x=1
C
Concave down: (−1,0) , (1,∞); Concave up: (0,1); Inflection points: x=0, x=1
D
Concave down: (−1,0) , (1,∞); Concave up: (0,1); Inflection points: x=−1, x=0, x=1

1
Step 1: Recall that the concavity of a function f(x) is determined by the sign of its second derivative, f''(x). If f''(x) > 0, the graph of f(x) is concave up, and if f''(x) < 0, the graph of f(x) is concave down.
Step 2: The graph provided is of f'(x), the first derivative of f(x). To determine concavity, observe where f'(x) is increasing or decreasing. If f'(x) is increasing, f''(x) > 0, and f(x) is concave up. If f'(x) is decreasing, f''(x) < 0, and f(x) is concave down.
Step 3: Analyze the graph of f'(x): From x = -∞ to x = 0, f'(x) is increasing, indicating that f(x) is concave up. From x = 0 to x = 1, f'(x) is decreasing, indicating that f(x) is concave down. From x = 1 to x = ∞, f'(x) is increasing again, indicating that f(x) is concave up.
Step 4: Identify inflection points. Inflection points occur where f''(x) changes sign, which corresponds to where f'(x) changes from increasing to decreasing or vice versa. From the graph, these changes occur at x = 0 and x = 1.
Step 5: Summarize the intervals: f(x) is concave up on (-∞, 0) and (1, ∞), concave down on (0, 1), and has inflection points at x = 0 and x = 1.
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