Find the coordinates of any stationary points of the curve y(x)=x^3-3x^2+3x+2

A stationary point is a point where the gradient of a curve is 0. The derivative of a curve gives us a function for the gradient at every point on the curve. So we have that dy(x)/dx=0 if and only if the curve is stationary at that point. The derivative of ax^n is nax^(n-1), so we find that dy/dx=3(x^2)-32x^1+3. There are only 3 terms as the derivative of 2 is 0, since 2 can be written as 2x^0 (any number to the power of 0 is 1), and 20*x^(-1)=0.We want to find the stationary points, so we are interested in where dy/dx=0. 0=3x^2-6x+3.This is just a quadratic equation, and can be solved as normal. To simplify, divide by 3,0=x^2-2x+1.Then we look for factorizations. We look for 2 numbers that add to make -2 and multiply to make 1. -1 and -1 satify this, so we can rewrite the quadratic as0=(x-1)(x-1)=(x-1)^2. this tells us when x=1, our equation is satisfied and the gradient is 0. Now we need to find out what y is when x =1. Putting x=1 into y(x) givesy(1)=(1)^3-3(1)^2+3(1)+2=1-3+3+2=3. So the coordinate of the only stationary point is (1,3)

Related Further Mathematics GCSE answers

All answers ▸

In the expansion of (x-7)(3x**2+kx-3) the coefficient of x**2 is 0. i) Find the value of k ii) Find the coefficient of x. iii) write the fully expanded equation in terms of x


Point A lies on the curve y=3x^2+5x+2. The x-coordinate of A is 2. Find the equation of the tangent to the curve at the point A


Find any stationary points in the function f(x) = 3x^2 + 2x


f'(x) = 3x^2 - 5cos(3x) + 90. Find f(x) and f''(x).


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo
Cookie Preferences