Question

What are the local extrema of `f(x)= x^3 - 3x^2 - x + 1`?

Answer 1

`1+-2sqrt(3)/3`

Explanation:

A polynomial is continuous and has a continuous derivative, so the extrema can be found by equating the derivative function to zero and solving the resulting equation.

The derivative function is `3x^2-6x-1` and this has roots `1+-sqrt(3)/3`.