How do you find the local extremas for f(x)=x^(1/3)(x+8)?

1 Answer
May 16, 2016

Has a local minimum at x = -2

Explanation:

The critical points are obtained by solving
d/(dx)f(x)=(4 (2 + x))/(3 x^(2/3))=0
Solving for x we get x = -2
The critical point qualification is done by calculating d^2/(dx)^2 f(x) = (4 (-4 + x))/(9 x^(5/3))
So d^2/(dx)^2 f(-2) = 0.839947
Then the critical point is a minimum.
If you where using a symbolic processor be aware of
x^{1/3} equiv x/(abs x)abs x^{1/3} and x^{5/3} equiv x/(abs(x))abs[x]^(5/3)