After completing this section, students should be able to do the following.

  • Use the first derivative to determine whether a function is increasing or decreasing.
  • Define higher order derivatives.
  • Compare differing notations for higher order derivatives.
  • Identify the relationships between the function and its first and second derivatives.
  • Sketch a graph of the second derivative, given the original function.
  • Sketch a graph of the original function, given the graph of its first and second derivatives.
  • Sketch a graph of a function satisfying certain constraints on its higher-order derivatives.
  • State the relationship between concavity and the second derivative.
  • Interpret the second derivative of a position function as acceleration.
  • Calculate higher order derivatives.