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In Exercises \(13-20\) , find all points of inflection of the function. $$y=\frac{x}{x^{2}+1}$$

Short Answer

Expert verified
The inflection points of the given function are at \((0,0)\), \((-1, -0.5)\), and \((1, 0.5)\)

Step by step solution

01

Compute the first derivative

Using the quotient rule, the first derivative of \(y\) with respect to \(x\) is given by \(y'=\frac{(x^{2}+1)\cdot1-x\cdot2x}{(x^{2}+1)^2}=\frac{1-x^{2}}{(x^{2}+1)^2}\)
02

Find the second derivative

Again applying the quotient rule,\[y''=\frac{(x^{2}+1)^2\cdot-2x-(1-x^{2})\cdot2(x^{2}+1)\cdot2x}{(x^{2}+1)^4}=\frac{-4x^{3}-4x}{(x^{2}+1)^4}\]
03

Find the inflection points

To find the points of inflection, set \(y''=0\), we get \(\frac{-4x^{3}-4x}{(x^{2}+1)^4}=0\)Solve for \(x\), we then solve the numerator to get the solutions as \(x = 0\) and \(x = -1, 1\) for the equation \(-4x^{3}-4x = 0\). So, we have three critical points. We then substitute these values into the original expression to find the corresponding 'y' values. The inflection points hence are \((0,0)\), \((-1, -0.5)\), and \((1, 0.5)\).

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Key Concepts

These are the key concepts you need to understand to accurately answer the question.

Quotient Rule
The quotient rule is a technique for finding the derivative of a function that is the ratio of two differentiable functions. If you have a function in the form \(\frac{u(x)}{v(x)}\), you can use the quotient rule to take its derivative:
  • Let \(y = \frac{u(x)}{v(x)}\).
  • The first derivative \(y'\) is given by \(y' = \frac{v(x)u'(x) - u(x)v'(x)}{[v(x)]^2}\).
This rule simplifies the process of handling complex expressions, particularly when both the numerator and denominator are polynomials or other functions that can be differentiated separately. In our exercise, \(u(x) = x\) and \(v(x) = x^2 + 1\), and their derivatives are very straightforward to calculate.

This foundational rule is crucial for ensuring accuracy when deriving functions involving both multiplication and division.
First Derivative
The first derivative of a function gives us the rate at which the function is changing at any point and helps identify critical behaviors like turning points or steep slopes. In this exercise, we found the first derivative of \(y = \frac{x}{x^2+1}\) using the quotient rule.

We computed:
  • The derivative of the numerator \(u'(x) = 1\) and the denominator \(v(x) = 2x\).
  • This resulted in the expression for \(y'\), the first derivative, as \(y' = \frac{1-x^2}{(x^2+1)^2}\).
The first derivative functions as a powerful tool to examine where the slope of the tangent line is zero, which indicates potential maximum or minimum points on the graph of the original function.
Second Derivative
Finding the second derivative is essential for understanding the concavity of a function, which tells us how the slope of the tangent line is changing. A key outcome of this is the determination of inflection points, where the concavity changes direction.

For our function, we arrived at the second derivative \(y''\) through a second application of the quotient rule. After finding it as \(y'' = \frac{-4x^3-4x}{(x^2+1)^4}\), it poses as a critical step towards examining concavity:
  • Positive \(y''\) at a point suggests the curve is concave up, indicating a local minimum.
  • Negative \(y''\) indicates concave down, suggesting a local maximum.
  • When \(y''\) transitions through zero, there might be an inflection point.
Knowing when to employ the second derivative is instrumental in a more detailed analysis of the function’s graph.
Critical Points
Critical points occur where the derivative of a function is zero or undefined, shedding light on possible local maxima, minima, or points of inflection. These are particularly key in turning the data derived from derivatives into insights about the behavior of our original function.

To find inflection points, we set the second derivative equal to zero and solved for \(x\), resulting in the critical points \(x = 0\) and \(x = \pm1\).
  • These points indicate where the function \(y = \frac{x}{x^2+1}\) possibly changes concavity, moving from concave up to concave down or vice versa.
  • After calculating the corresponding \(y\) values, we identified the points of inflection as \((0,0), (-1,-0.5), (1,0.5)\).
This analysis elucidates significant moments in the function, necessary for both purely mathematical investigations and practical real-world interpretations.

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