Q. For the function f(x)=x2−3, find the slope of the tangent line at x=12.Answer:
Calculate Derivative: To find the slope of the tangent line at a specific point on the graph of a function, we need to calculate the derivative of the function. The derivative of a function at a point gives us the slope of the tangent line at that point.
Apply Power Rule: The function given is f(x)=x2−3. To find the derivative of this function, we use the power rule, which states that the derivative of xn is n⋅x(n−1). Applying this rule to our function, we get the derivative f′(x)=2⋅x(2−1)=2x.
Find Slope at x=12: Now that we have the derivative, we can find the slope of the tangent line at x=12 by evaluating the derivative at that point. So we calculate f′(12)=2×12.
Evaluate Slope: Evaluating f′(12) gives us 2×12=24. This is the slope of the tangent line to the function at x=12.
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