Fill in the blanks in each of the following
The function
decreases in the interval _______.
Given ![]()
Now apply the derivative we get

Now applying the quotient rule of differentiation and the differentiation of the constant term is 0 we get


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We will equate this with 0 to get critical points,
f’(x)=0
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⇒ x2-1=0
⇒ x2=1
⇒ x=±1
The intervals formed by these two critical numbers are (-∞, -1), (-1, 0), (0, 1) and (1, ∞)
(i) in the interval (-∞, -1), f’(x)>0
∴ f(x) is increasing in (-∞,-1)
(ii) in the interval (-1, 0), f’(x)<0
∴ f(x) is decreasing in(-1,0)
(iii) in the interval (0, 1), f’(x)>0
∴ f(x) is increasing in (1, ∞)
(iii) in the interval (1, ∞), f’(x)<0
∴ f(x) is decreasing in (1, ∞)
Hence the function
decreases in the interval (1, ∞).