Is #f(x)=sinx# concave or convex at #x=pi/2#?

1 Answer
Oct 24, 2017

See below

Explanation:

to even find concavity, you should know what it means by concave up and concave down.

if a functions #f''(x)# for a point, like #(0.25, 2.25)# is positive, like this graph of #x^3#, but in its 2nd derivative form of #9x#

graph{y=9x [-10, 10, -5, 5]}

then its concave-Up

if a functions #f''(x)# for a point, like #(0.2, -0.54)# is negative, like the graph of #3x^3+2x+4#, which will turn into #-27x#

graph{-27x [-10, 10, -5, 5]}

then its concave-Down

but all of these points and graphs are linear, your looking for an point on an non-linear graph #(sin(x))#.

the second derivative of #sin(x)# is #-sin(x)#

here's the graph:

graph{-sin(x) [-10, 10, -5, 5]}

at #x=pi/2#, the point is negative, also known as concave-down. since the graph is going negative at the interval #[0, pi]#