Differentiation rule for power functions: Difference between revisions

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(Created page with "==Statement== We have the following differentiation rule: <math>\! \frac{d}{dx}(x^r) = rx^{r-1}</math> where <math>r</math> is a constant. Some notes on the validity: {| clas...")
 
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where <math>r</math> is a constant. Some notes on the validity:
where <math>r</math> is a constant. Some notes on the validity:


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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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Revision as of 17:11, 19 December 2011

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 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.