Inflection point

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Plot of y = x³ with inflection point of (0,0).

An inflection point, or point of inflection (or inflexion) can be defined in any of the following ways:

a point on a curve at which the tangent crosses the curve itself.

a point on a curve at which the curvature changes sign. The curve changes from being concave upwards (positive curvature) to concave downwards (negative curvature), or vice versa. If one imagines driving a vehicle along the curve, it is a point at which the steering-wheel is momentarily 'straight', being turned from left to right or vice versa.

a point on a curve at which the second derivative changes sign. This is very similar to the previous definition, since the sign of the curvature is always the same as the sign of the second derivative, but note that the curvature is not the same as the second derivative.

a point (x,y) on a function, f(x), at which the first derivative, f'(x), is at an extremum, i.e. a minimum or maximum. (This is not the same as saying that y is at an extremum, and in fact implies that y is not at an extremum).

Plot of y = x³, rotated, with tangent line at inflection point of (0,0).

Note that since the first derivative is at an extremum, it follows that the second derivative, f''(x), is equal to zero, but the latter condition does not provide a sufficient definition of a point of inflection. One also needs the lowest-order non-zero derivative to be of odd order (third, fifth, etc.). If the lowest-order non-zero derivative is of even order, the point is not a point of inflection. (An example of such a function is $y = x 4 - x$ ).

It follows from the definition that the sign of f'(x) on either side of the point (x,y) must be the same. If this is positive, the point is a rising point of inflection; if it is negative, the point is a falling point of inflection.

Points of inflection can also be categorised according to whether f'(x) is zero or not zero.

if f'(x) is zero, the point is a stationary point of inflection, also known as a saddle-point

if f'(x) is not zero, the point is a non-stationary point of inflection

Plot of y = x⁴ - x with tangent line at non-inflection point of (0,0).

An example of a saddle point is the point (0,0) on the graph y=x³. The tangent is the x-axis, which cuts the graph at this point.

A non-stationary point of inflection can be visualised if the graph y=x³ is rotated slightly about the origin. The tangent at the origin still cuts the graph in two, but its gradient is non-zero.

Note that an inflection point is also called an ogee, although this term is sometimes applied to the entire curve which contains an inflection point.