Applications of Derivatives 173
Step 2: Enter:y 1 =
√
((x−1)∧ 2 +x∧6).
Use the [Minimum] function of
the calculator and obtain
x=.65052 andy 1 =.44488.
Verify the result with the First
Derivative Test. Enter
y 2 =d(y1(x),x) and use the
[Zero] function and obtain
x=.65052.
0 0.65052
z′ –+ 0
z decr
rel min
incr
Thus, the shortest distance is
approximately 0.445.