Differentiation - finding equation of normal to curve

studentxlol
Messages
40
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement



Find the equation of the normal to the curve y=(6x+3)^(1/2) at the point for which x=13.


Homework Equations



dy/dx=dy/du*du/dx

y-y1=m(x-x1)


The Attempt at a Solution



y=(6x+3)^(1/2)
dy/dx=1/3(6x+3)^2

gradient of normal = -3(6x+3)^2

at x=13, dy/dx=-3(6x13+3)^2=19683.

obviously a silly answer and the textbook disagrees.

So at this point I could simplify y=(6x+3)^(1/2) to y=(2x+1)^2 maybe? Even after doing this, I end up with an even slightly smaller silly answer and the textbook still disagrees, unless the textbook is wrong, although this is highly unlikely.

HELP!
 
Physics news on Phys.org
You will want to start by checking this:
studentxlol said:
dy/dx=1/3(6x+3)^2
 
Hootenanny said:
You will want to start by checking this:

I inputted y=(6x+3)^(1/2) into wolfram alpha and the answer came out to be:

√3/(2x+1)^(1/2)

I'm confused. I used the chain rule to get:

subu=6x+3 so that y=u^1/2
dy/du=1/2u^-(1/2)=1/2(6x+3)^-(1/2) and du/dx=6

=> dy/dx=dy/du*du/dx=3(6x+3)^-(1/2).

?
 
Last edited:
Work out the derivative by hand. It's straightforward.
 
I put that into WolframAlpha and got the correct answer.
 
Prove $$\int\limits_0^{\sqrt2/4}\frac{1}{\sqrt{x-x^2}}\arcsin\sqrt{\frac{(x-1)\left(x-1+x\sqrt{9-16x}\right)}{1-2x}} \, \mathrm dx = \frac{\pi^2}{8}.$$ Let $$I = \int\limits_0^{\sqrt 2 / 4}\frac{1}{\sqrt{x-x^2}}\arcsin\sqrt{\frac{(x-1)\left(x-1+x\sqrt{9-16x}\right)}{1-2x}} \, \mathrm dx. \tag{1}$$ The representation integral of ##\arcsin## is $$\arcsin u = \int\limits_{0}^{1} \frac{\mathrm dt}{\sqrt{1-t^2}}, \qquad 0 \leqslant u \leqslant 1.$$ Plugging identity above into ##(1)## with ##u...
Back
Top