Derivatives of Curves. How do they work? How is the second derivative of a quadratic equation a constant? Is the second derivative the slope of the slope?
In: Mathematics
> How is the second derivative of a quadratic …
The highest power of x in a quadratic equation is 2, the square term. When you differentiate a variable raised to a power, the index decreases by one. So differentiating twice reduces that index to zero, a constant therefore no longer dependent on x.
> Is the second derivative ….
Yes the slope of the slope, or more succinctly, the curvature.
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