Let’s look at a calculus problem involving differentiation: finding the rate of change of a function at any given point.
For this example, we’ll consider a simple polynomial function and calculate its derivative.
Then, we’ll use $Python$ to graph the function along with its derivative, making it easy to understand how the slope changes across different points.
Problem: Differentiating a Polynomial Function
Given a polynomial function:
$$
f(x) = 3x^3 - 5x^2 + 2x - 4
$$
we want to:
- Find its derivative, $ f’(x) $.
- Plot both $ f(x) $ and $ f’(x) $ over a specified range to observe the behavior of the function and how the slope changes with $ x $.
Solution
- Differentiate $ f(x) $ with respect to $ x $.
- The derivative, $ f’(x) $, represents the rate of change or slope of $ f(x) $ at each point.
- Use $Python$ to plot both $ f(x) $ and $ f’(x) $ on the same graph.
Derivative Calculation
The derivative of $ f(x) = 3x^3 - 5x^2 + 2x - 4 $ is:
$$
f’(x) = 9x^2 - 10x + 2
$$
Python Code
Here’s the $Python$ code to calculate and plot both $ f(x) $ and $ f’(x) $:
1 | import numpy as np |
Explanation of the Code
- Function Definitions:
f(x)
is defined to represent $ 3x^3 - 5x^2 + 2x - 4 $.f_prime(x)
represents the derivative $ 9x^2 - 10x + 2 $.
- Plotting:
- We use a range of $ x $ values from $-2$ to $3$ to cover the region of interest.
- Both $ f(x) $ and $ f’(x) $ are plotted on the same graph for easy comparison.
- The function $ f(x) $ is shown in blue, and the derivative $ f’(x) $ is shown as a red dashed line.
Visualization
The plot shows:
- Blue Curve: Represents $ f(x) $, the original polynomial function.
- Red Dashed Curve: Represents $ f’(x) $, the derivative, showing the slope of $ f(x) $ at each point.
The intersection of $ f’(x) $ with the $x$-$axis$ indicates where $ f(x) $ has a local maximum or minimum (i.e., where the slope of $ f(x) $ is zero).
Interpretation
- Function Behavior: $ f(x) $ varies according to the cubic shape, with local peaks and troughs.
- Derivative Insights: $ f’(x) $ reveals where $ f(x) $ is increasing or decreasing:
- When $ f’(x) > 0 $: $ f(x) $ is increasing.
- When $ f’(x) < 0 $: $ f(x) $ is decreasing.
- Applications: Understanding the derivative function is crucial in finding the rate of change, optimizing functions, and analyzing trends, especially in fields like $physics$, $economics$, and $engineering$.