Exercise 364Calculus › Single-variable calculus › Differentiation › Differentiable functionsL1Added 2 Nov 2026
Derivative with an absolute value
#differentiability#absolute value#one-sided derivatives
Statement
Let . Determine where is differentiable and compute there.
Hint
The absolute value is not differentiable at . Treat and separately, then examine with the difference quotient.
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Solution
For : , so .
For : , so .
At . The difference quotient is . The second term tends to . The first term is for and for . So the right derivative is and the left derivative is . They differ, so is not differentiable at .
Answer. is differentiable on , with for and for .
Remark. The sum of a differentiable function and a function with a corner has a corner at the same place: the exponential only changes the slopes on both sides.