Differentiation, Second Derivative, of Functions Problem

Loppyfoot
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Homework Statement



Suppose f(3)=2 , f'(3)=5 , and f''(3)= -2 . Then d²/dx² (f²(x)) at x=3 is equal to ____?

A. -20
B. 20
C. 38
D. 42
E. 10


The Attempt at a Solution



I am confused about how to find the function to get the derivative from that function. Any Ideas? Thanks.
 
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You have two choices here: the chain rule and product rule.
 
So would the derive of f²(x)= 2f'(x) *1?
 
would that be the correct derivative?
 
Loppyfoot said:
would that be the correct derivative?

Nope. Remember that the chain rule gives that [f(g(x))]' = f'(g(x)) g'(x).
 
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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