Is Concavity the First Derivative?

Concavity relates to the rate of change of a function's derivative. A function f is concave up (or upwards) where the derivative f′ is increasing. This is equivalent to the derivative of f′ , which is f′′f, start superscript, prime, prime, end superscript, being positive.

Why does second derivative show concavity?

The 2nd derivative is tells you how the slope of the tangent line to the graph is changing. If you're moving from left to right, and the slope of the tangent line is increasing and the so the 2nd derivative is postitive, then the tangent line is rotating counter-clockwise. That makes the graph concave up.

What is the first derivative of?

The first derivative of a function is an expression which tells us the slope of a tangent line to the curve at any instant. Because of this definition, the first derivative of a function tells us much about the function. If is positive, then must be increasing. If is negative, then must be decreasing.