Problem with diff



Holger,
 
For the moment do this:
 
(%i1) f: -2*x^3 + 3*x^2 + 12*x -13;
(%o1) -2*x^3+3*x^2+12*x-13
(%i2) f1: diff(f, x);
(%o2) -6*x^2+6*x+12
(%i3) dfdx: ev(f1, x = 1.0);
(%o3) 12.0
 
It will work for most situations.
 
If you want an answer as a numerical value use the additional argument "float" e.g.
 
(%i4) dfdx_numerical: ev(f1, x = 1, float);
(%o4) 12
 
When working with more complicated symbolic derivatives a nice thing to use is the "depends" (refer to help manual for examples).
 
Regards,
 
Vishal

>>> Holger Schulz <qdl at gmx.net> 6/18/2009 6:23 PM >>>
I want to make the derivate of a function a function itself. Naively i  
tried

f(x):=-2*x^3+3*x^2+12*x-13;

and

f1(x):=diff(f(x),x);

which did not work:

(%i16) f1(1);
diff: second argument must be a variable; found 1
#0: f1(x=1)
  -- an error.  To debug this try debugmode(true);

What can I do?

Thanks

hs
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