Exercise · ZW-CRITICAL-POINTS-004 · ★★☆ Intermediate

What are the critical points of \(f(x)=x^{4} - 4 x^{3}\)?

Choose one option.

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  • A. \(x=0,\ x=3\)

Explanation

Differentiate: \(f'(x)=4 x^{3} - 12 x^{2}=4 x^{2} \left(x - 3\right)\). The critical points are the solutions of \(f'(x)=0\): \(x=0,\ x=3\).

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Review the concept: Critical points

A critical point of \(f\) is a number \(c\) in the domain where \(f^{\prime}(c)=0\) or \(f^{\prime}(c)\) does not exist. Local maxima and minima of a function at an interior point occur at critical points.

\[f'(c)=0\ \ \text{or}\ \ f'(c)\ \text{does not exist}\]

More practice problems: critical points

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