5. What is the slope of the line tangent to the curve y3 – x2y + 6 = 0 at the point (1,-2)?

A. –(2/5)

B. –(4/11)

C. 4/11

D. 11/4

E. 8

 

Solution: The answer is B

 

Use the method of implicit differentiation. Since y is a function of x, take the derivative of both sides of the given equation with respect to x and apply the Chain Rule as follows:

Solve for dy/dx.

Where dy/dx is the slope of the line tangent to the given curve at any point (x,y).

Thus, the slope of the line tangent to the given curve at the point (1,-2) is obtained by substituting the corresponding x and y values into the above equation, as follows: