Find the coordinates of the stationary point of y = x^2 + x - 2

At a stationary point, the gradient/slope of the graph is 0. To find the gradient of y, we differentiate with respect to x.This gives us dy/dx = 2x + 1. Since we want to find where the gradient is 0, we set dy/dx = 2x + 1 = 0. Solving we find that x = -1/2.We now have the x coordinate of the stationary point, we now need to find the y coordinate. We plug this value back into our original equation y = x^2 + x - 2, giving us (-1/2)^2 + (-1/2) - 2 = -9/4.Therefore, the co-ordinates of the stationary point are (-1/2, -9/4).

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Answered by Martin C. Maths tutor

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