How do you find the average rate of change of $f(x)= 2/x^2$ over the interval [1, 5]?

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Answer 1 · 2016-12-10T12:29:45

The average rate of change is $bar C = 13/25$

The average rate of change is simply the incremental ratio calculated over the whole interval, that is:

$bar C = (f(b)-f(a))/(b-a)$

In this case:

$bar C = ( [ 2/5^2 ] + [ 2/1^2 ])/(5-1)=1/4(2/25+2)=13/25$

How do you find the average rate of change of f(x)= 2/x^2f(x)= 2/x^2 over the interval [1, 5]?