Find the difference quotient of LaTeX:  \displaystyle f(x)=7 x^{3} - 9 x^{2} - 4 x + 10 .

The difference quotient is LaTeX:  \displaystyle \frac{f(x+h)-f(x)}{h} . Evaluating LaTeX:  \displaystyle f(x+h)=- 4 h - 4 x + 7 \left(h + x\right)^{3} - 9 \left(h + x\right)^{2} + 10 and expanding gives LaTeX:  \displaystyle f(x+h)=7 h^{3} + 21 h^{2} x - 9 h^{2} + 21 h x^{2} - 18 h x - 4 h + 7 x^{3} - 9 x^{2} - 4 x + 10 Evaluating the difference quotient gives LaTeX:  \displaystyle \frac{(7 h^{3} + 21 h^{2} x - 9 h^{2} + 21 h x^{2} - 18 h x - 4 h + 7 x^{3} - 9 x^{2} - 4 x + 10)-(7 x^{3} - 9 x^{2} - 4 x + 10)}{h} Simplifying gives LaTeX:  \displaystyle \frac{7 h^{3} + 21 h^{2} x - 9 h^{2} + 21 h x^{2} - 18 h x - 4 h}{h}=7 h^{2} + 21 h x - 9 h + 21 x^{2} - 18 x - 4