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EXAMPLE 7Finding Higher-Order Derivatives of a Power Function

Find the second, third, and fourth derivatives of y=2x3.

Solution Since y is a power function, we use the Simple Power Rule and the Constant Multiple Rule to find each derivative. The first derivative is y=ddx(2x3)=2ddxx3=23x2=6x2

The next three derivatives are

y

y'''=\dfrac{d^{3}}{dx^{3}}( 2x^{3}) =\dfrac{d}{dx}( 12x) =12

y^{(4)}=\dfrac{d^{4}}{dx^{4}}( 2x^{3}) =\dfrac{d}{dx}12=0