new to bus. calculus

[justdontgetit]

Hi everyone, I'm taking a business calc class on-line and my teacher is non-existent. He suggests to read the book, again. I really don't know where to begin to grasp this but hopefully any suggestions are better than doing it on your own.
1. Let g(t) = (0.8)t. Use a small interval to estimate g'(2).

2. Suppose f(x) = 1/3x3. Estimate f'(2), f'(3).

Thank you so much in advance for any insight!!!

 

[pka]

As Ms Stapel is want to say, “we are not prepared to teach a complete course here”.
I think online mathematics courses are in general pretty bad.
But I will do this for you.
The derivative f’(2) is approximated by this fraction: [f(2)−f(a)]/[2−a] where a is a number close to 2 but not equal to 2.
So you can evaluate that faction using various values of a: 2.1, 1.9, 1.99, 2.01.
That should give you some idea of the value of f’(2).

If are doing a course online, then you need to learn notation conventions.
For example you wrote, f(x) = 1/3x3. I have no idea what you mean by that.
I think it is likely x<SUP>3</SUP>/3. If so, you could type: (1/3)x^3.

 

[stapel]

Ms Stapel is want to say...

And, being a pedant, she is "wont" to correcting grammar and spelling. :wink:

Eliz.

 

[pka]

THANKS.
If I could have spelled, I would have done a PhD in philosophy and not mathematics.
But 1972 was before spell check.