Q. For the function f(x)=x2−11, find the slope of the tangent line at x=−3.Answer:
Calculate Derivative: To find the slope of the tangent line to the function at a specific point, we need to calculate the derivative of the function, which gives us the slope of the tangent line at any point x. The function given is f(x)=x2−11. We will use the power rule for differentiation, which states that the derivative of xn is n⋅x(n−1).
Apply Power Rule: Applying the power rule to the function f(x)=x2−11, we differentiate with respect to x to find f′(x), the derivative of the function.f′(x)=dxd(x2)−dxd(11)f′(x)=2⋅x2−1−0f′(x)=2x
Find Slope at x=−3: Now that we have the derivative f′(x)=2x, we can find the slope of the tangent line at x=−3 by substituting −3 into the derivative.f′(−3)=2∗(−3)f′(−3)=−6The slope of the tangent line at x=−3 is −6.
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