Differentiation rule for power functions: Difference between revisions

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! Case on <math>r</math> !! Values of <math>x</math> for which this makes sense
! Case on <math>r</math> !! Values of <math>x</math> for which this makes sense
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| <math>r = 0</math> || all nonzero <math>x</math>. Also makes sense at <math>x = 0</math> if we interpret the right side as 0.
| <math>r = 0</math> || all nonzero <math>x</math>. Also makes sense at <math>x = 0</math> if we interpret the left side as 1 (constant equal to the list at 0) and the right side as 0.
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| <math>r</math> a rational number with odd denominator and greater than or equal to 1 || All <math>x</math>
| <math>r</math> a rational number with odd denominator and greater than or equal to 1 || All <math>x</math>

Revision as of 03:13, 26 May 2014

Statement

We have the following differentiation rule:

ddx(xr)=rxr1

where r is a constant. Some notes on the validity:

Case on r Values of x for which this makes sense
r=0 all nonzero x. Also makes sense at x=0 if we interpret the left side as 1 (constant equal to the list at 0) and the right side as 0.
r a rational number with odd denominator and greater than or equal to 1 All x
r a real number greater than 1 that is not rational with odd denominator All x>0. One-sided derivative makes sense at 0.
r a rational number with odd denominator and between 0 and 1 All x0. At 0, we have a vertical tangent or vertical cusp depending on the numerator of the rational function.
r a real number between 0 and 1 that is not rational with odd denominator All x>0. One-sided vertical tangent at 0.
r a rational number with odd denominator and less than 0 All x0. At 0, we have a vertical asymptote
r a real number less than 0 that is not rational with odd denominator All x>0. One-sided vertical asymptote at 0.