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6 votes
6 votes
Hi, I am not sure if I should have been a lot

Hi, I am not sure if I should have been a lot-example-1
User GeorgeButter
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1 Answer

10 votes
10 votes

We are asked to estimate the derivative of a function from a graph.

The way we will estimate is calculating the slope of the secant line between two points in the graph of the function f. Let us illustrate with a draw the process

The first thing to do is find two points on the graph and find the equation of the line that pass through them

Inspection of the graph we find that the points


(7.4,5)\text{ and }(7.5,4.6)

Therefore, the slope can be calculated using the formula


(y_2-y_1)/(x_2-x_1)=(4.6-5)/(7.5-7.4)=-(0.4)/(0.1)=-4

Therefore, an estimate for the derivative of the function f, at the instant t=7.4 is -4 $/lb

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Hi, I am not sure if I should have been a lot-example-1
User Adrian Monk
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3.3k points