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Exponential Derivatives (1 Viewer)

taggs-sasuke

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Find the equation of the tangent to the curve y = e^x which passes through the origin. Ans: y = ex.

I can't get the answer. :(
 

Dumsum

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Forget y=e^x-1, they've misunderstood the question.

y = e^x
y' = e^x

So at point (k,e^k), tangent has gradient e^k.

Use point-gradient formula:
y - e^k = e^k(x - k)

For different values of k, this gives the equation of different tangents... We want the one that passes through the origin so we need to solve the above equation for k at (x,y) = (0,0).

-e^k = -ke^k
e^k (k - 1) = 0
k = 1 (since e^k can never be 0).

Substituting this k value gives
y - e = e(x - 1)
y = e + ex - e
y = ex.
 
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xMrRand0m

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Forget y=e^x-1, they've misunderstood the question.

y = e^x
y' = e^x

So at point (k,e^k), tangent has gradient e^k.

Use point-gradient formula:
y - e^k = e^k(x - k)

For different values of k, this gives the equation of different tangents... We want the one that passes through the origin so we need to solve the above equation for k at (x,y) = (0,0).

-e^k = -ke^k
e^k (k - 1) = 0
k = 1 (since e^k can never be 0).

Substituting this k value gives
y - e = e(x - 1)
y = e + ex - e
y = ex.
Ooh! My mistake then, I thought she meant find the tangent of y=e^x-1 at the origin. Sorry.
 

taggs-sasuke

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Forget y=e^x-1, they've misunderstood the question.

y = e^x
y' = e^x

So at point (k,e^k), tangent has gradient e^k.

Use point-gradient formula:
y - e^k = e^k(x - k)

For different values of k, this gives the equation of different tangents... We want the one that passes through the origin so we need to solve the above equation for k at (x,y) = (0,0).

-e^k = -ke^k
e^k (k - 1) = 0
k = 1 (since e^k can never be 0).

Substituting this k value gives
y - e = e(x - 1)
y = e + ex - e
y = ex.
Oh, I get it. Thank you!
 

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