Asked by Phoenix Jackson

Find the average rate of change of
f
(
x
)
=
1
x
2

1
over the interval
[
2
,
2
+
h
]
.

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Average rate of change = [f(2+h) − f(2)]/h.

f(2) = 1/(4−1) = 1/3, f(2+h) = 1/((2+h)^2 −1) = 1/(h^2 +4h +3).

So
[f(2+h) − f(2)]/h = [1/(h^2+4h+3) − 1/3]/h
= [3 − (h^2+4h+3)] / [3(h^2+4h+3) h]
= −(4+h) / [3(h^2+4h+3)]
= −(h+4) / [3(h+1)(h+3)].

This holds for h ≠ 0, −1, −3.