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curey · Oct 1, 2008, 12:10 AM

By using the definition of derivative, find the derivatives of the following
functions.
a) f (x) = 4 − x^2
b) f (x) =(1 − x)/(2x)

Unknown008 · Oct 1, 2008, 09:45 AM

You can define the derivative of a curve as its gradient at a certain point. I'll do the first one as an example:

$f(x)=4x^0-x^2$
$\frac{dy}{dx}= (0)4x^{-1} - (2)x^1$
$\frac{dy}{dx}= -2x$

See what I've done? I multiplied each term by the power of x and then reduced the power of x by one.

Hope it helped. If you need more help, don't hesitate to post.