Education Technology


Higher Order Derivatives

Activity Overview

Students calculate the second derivative of functions, inspect a graph and give the intervals for concave up and concave down and find the point of inflection.

Key Steps

  • Image

    Students will explore the higher derivatives of several functions and use these to identify the concavity and point(s) of inflection.

  • Image

    Students will use a nested derivative command to find the second derivative of each function.

  • Image

    Students will graph the function and its second derivative on the same screen to discover the relationship between the function's concavity and second derivative.