Max and Min and Second Derivative
PROFESSOR: Hi. Well, I hope you're ready for second derivatives. We don't go higher than that in many problems, but the second derivative is an important-- the derivative of the derivative is an important thing to know, especially in problems with maximum and minimum, which is the big application of derivatives, to locate a maximum or a minimum, and to decide which one it is. And I can tell you right away, locating a maximum, minimum, is the first derivative's job. The first derivative is 0. If I have a maximum or a minimum, and we'll have pictures, somewhere in the middle of my function I'll recognize by derivative equals 0. Slope equals 0, that the function is leveling off, either bending down or bending up, maximum or minimum. OK, and it's the second derivative that tells me which it is. The second derivative tells me the bending of the graph. OK, so we now will have three generations. The big picture of calculus started with two functions: the ...