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Critical Points

From calculus, you should remember what a critical point is. Any value of x for which the first derivative of the function f is zero is a critical point. Further, if the second derivative is positive there, the function is concave up and has a minimum. If the second derivative is negative, a maximum exists, and if the second derivative is zero, an inflection point exists, where the function changes from concave up to concave down or vice versa.



Vector Calculus
Wed Sep 17 14:50:13 MST 1997