Prove Mean Value Theorem: f(x) on I=(a,b)

mtayab1994
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Homework Statement



1) Let f be a function differentiable two times on the open interval I and a and b two numbers in I

Prove that: \exists c\in]a,b[:\frac{f(b)-f(a)}{b-a}=f'(a)+\frac{b+a}{c}f''(c)

2) Let f be a function differentiable three times on the open interval I and a and b two numbers in I.

Prove that: \exists c\in]a,b[:f(b)=f(a)+(b-a)f'(a)+\frac{(b-a)^{2}}{2}f''(a)+\frac{b-a}{2}f'''(c)

The Attempt at a Solution



Any tips on how to start please. Thank you in advance.
 
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What did you try?

Are you reminded of some general result or theorem?
 
micromass said:
What did you try?

Are you reminded of some general result or theorem?

Well the theorem states that if a function is continuous on a closed interval [a,b] and is differentiable on the open interval (a,b) then there exists a c in the open interval (a,b) such that.

f'(c)=\frac{f(b)-f(a)}{b-a}

And then i tried counting the second derivative but i couldn't get anything out of it.
 
Do you know Taylor's theorem?
 
micromass said:
Do you know Taylor's theorem?

Yes i know that it can be solved using taylor's theorem easily, but we need to prove it for the a function differentiable twice and a function differentiable 3 times and then we have to prove taylor's theorem for a function differentiable n times. So I thought that since there exists a C in the open interval (a,b) then f(c) will have to be the mean of the f(b)+f(a) and when i take the derivative of that i get f'(c)=(f'(b)-f'(a))/2, but I don't know what to do from here on.
 
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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