Learning Resources

Investigation 9: Looking Inside the Box: Properties of the Function y = ex & Investigation 10: The Derivative of y = ex

Step A

• The slope formula can be used to find the slopes of the two required secants intersecting the graph of y = e^x. 
• To factor the expression for the slope of the first secant, you must recall that e^{x + h} = e^x x e^h. This is a classic use of the Laws of Exponents. 
• The expressions for the slopes of the two secant lines should be very similar. The first expression is simply the second expression multiplied by e^x.