Common Calculus Mistakes
Quotient Rule

Some problems provide the opportunity for more than one mistake.


The Goal

Find

goal


Mistake 1

Find the mistake:

mistake

Need a hint? Look carefully at the red part:

mistake


Correction 1

correction


Mistake 2

Find the mistake:

mistake

Need a hint? Look carefully at the red part:

mistake


Correction 2

correction


Explanations

In the first mistake parentheses should have been used around the factor z4-5; not using them meant that the 6z factor was not distributed over the whole factor z4-5. Use parentheses!

In the second mistake the numerator terms were reversed; this mistake changes the sign of the result. Take care to get the order of the terms correct in the numerator when using the quotient rule.

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