How do you find the slope of the secant lines of #f(x)=x^3-12x+1# through the points: -3 and 3?

Question

2101 views around the world

You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License

Answer 1 · 2016-03-13T07:48:02

slope #=-3#

Given : #f(x)=x^3-12x+1#

when #x=-3# find #f(-3)#

#f(-3)=(-3)^3-12*(-3)+1=-27+36+1=10#

We have a point #(-3, 10)#
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
when #x=3# find #f(3)#

#f(3)=(3)^3-12*(3)+1=27-36+1=-8#

We have a point #(3, -8)#
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Solve the slope
Slope#=(y_2-y_1)/(x_2-x_1)=(10--8)/(-3-3)=18/-6=-3#

God bless....I hope the explanation is useful.