- #1
mrchris
- 31
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Homework Statement
If f is strictly decreasing and differentiable on R, then f '(x) ≤ 0 for all x.
Homework Equations
Mean value theorem
The Attempt at a Solution
if f is strictly decreasing, then for any a,b[itex]\in[/itex]ℝ such that a<b, f(b)<f(a) or f(b)-f(a)<0. By the MVT, there exists a number c[itex]\in[/itex](a, b) such that
f '(c)= [f(b)-f(a)]/(b-a). Since we know b-a>0 and f(b)-f(a)<0, f '(c)<0. I'm kind of stuck here because intuitively I can say that since f is strictly decreasing, its derivative is always negative so since f '(c) is negative then all f '(x) must be negative, but that is just restating the statement I am supposed to prove.