A curve has equation y= e^x -5x, Find the coordinates of the stationary point and show it is a minimum point

differentiating ex gives ex (need to know this), differentiating -5x gives -5 (step the power of the x down by 1 and multiply the original power with the coefficient, power of the x was 1 so becomes 0, x0 = 1)

so dy/dx = ex -5, a stationary point is when dy/dx = 0 so to find the x coordinate we say ex -5 =0, then solve for x

e=5

x = ln(5) (we would leave it like this usually)

then put the x value back in to find the y value:  y = eln(5) -5 (ln(5))

y = 5 - 5ln(5) (we would leave it in the exact form usually)

so the stationary point is ( ln(5), 5-5ln(5) ) (remember it asked for coordinates)

to prove this is a minimum point we need the second derivative:

differentiating ex-5 gives ex, put in x=ln(5) and we get that d2y/dx2 = 5 at the stationary point, as this is greater than 0 it is a minimum point.

JC
Answered by James C. Maths tutor

8867 Views

See similar Maths A Level tutors

Related Maths A Level answers

All answers ▸

OCR C2 2015 Question 8: (a) Use logarithms to solve the equation 2^(n-3) = 18,000 , giving your answer correct to 3 significant figures. (b) Solve the simultaneous equations log2(x) + log2(y) = 8 & log2(x^2/y) = 7.


Differentiate y=x^(-1/2)-x


Use integration by parts to find the value of the indefinite integral (1/x^3)lnx ; integration with respect to dx


Why does d/dx (tan(x)) = sec^2(x)?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning