Calculus derivation with radicals

JerG90
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Homework Statement



godcalc.jpg


Homework Equations



Basic rules- Power, product, and quotient

The Attempt at a Solution



The first step would be to rewrite the equation:

f(x)= x^2/3 + 1/ x^1/2

I'm lost here. I don't know what to do when the variable is in the denominator like that.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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JerG90 said:

Homework Statement



godcalc.jpg


Homework Equations



Basic rules- Power, product, and quotient

The Attempt at a Solution



The first step would be to rewrite the equation:

f(x)= x^2/3 + 1/ x^1/2

I'm lost here. I don't know what to do when the variable is in the denominator like that.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You can bring the denominator up, and 1/x^(1/2) becomes x^(-1/2)... or you can use the quotient rule for derivatives.
 
rememeber x^{\frac{-1}{2}}=\frac{1}{x^{\frac{1}{2}}}
also recalll the formula for derivative of x^{n}
 
Or as you suggested, for your problem with the second part, just use the quotient rule!
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
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