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Tangent by Transformation (Posted on 2019-07-25) Difficulty: 3 of 5
Find the two points on the curve y = x4 - 4x2 - 3x which share a common tangent line.

No Solution Yet Submitted by Danish Ahmed Khan    
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Solution Solution | Comment 1 of 2
With a bit of calculus and algebra, the equation of the tangent line at any point with x=a can be written as

y=(4a^3-8a-3)x+(-3a^4+4a^2)

For two different values of a to create the same line, they must have the same slope and the same y-intercept.  Observe the y-intercept above is even.  That means the two values of a sought can be noted a and -a.  Use these to make the slopes the same:

4a^3-8a-3=4(-a)^3-8(-a)-3
a=sqrt(2)
-a=-sqrt(2)

The points themselves work out to 
(sqrt(2), -4-3sqrt(2))
(-sqrt(2), -4+3sqrt(2))

The tangent line itself is 
y=-3x-4

  Posted by Jer on 2019-07-25 09:16:35
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