TOPIC OUTLINE

LIMITS

Tangent Lines and Rates of Change – In this section we will introduce two problems that we
will see time and again in this course : Rate of Change of a function and Tangent Lines to
functions. Both of these problems will be used to introduce the concept of limits, although we
won't formally give the definition or notation until the next section.

The Limit – In this section we will introduce the notation of the limit. We will also take a
conceptual look at limits and try to get a grasp on just what they are and what they can tell us.
We will be estimating the value of limits in this section to help us understand what they tell us.
We will actually start computing limits in a couple of sections.

One-Sided Limits – In this section we will introduce the concept of one-sided limits. We will
discuss the differences between one-sided limits and limits as well as how they are related to
each other.

Limit Properties – In this section we will discuss the properties of limits that we’ll need to use
in computing limits (as opposed to estimating them as we've done to this point). We will also
compute a couple of basic limits in this section.

Computing Limits – In this section we will looks at several types of limits that require some
work before we can use the limit properties to compute them. We will also look at computing
limits of piecewise functions and use of the Squeeze Theorem to compute some limits.

Infinite Limits – In this section we will look at limits that have a value of infinity or negative
infinity. We’ll also take a brief look at vertical asymptotes.

Limits at Infinity– In this section we will start looking at limits at infinity, i.e. limits in which
the variable gets very large in either the positive or negative sense. We will concentrate on
polynomials and rational expressions in this section. We’ll also take a brief look at horizontal
asymptotes.

Continuity – In this section we will introduce the concept of continuity and how it relates to
limits. We will also see the Intermediate Value Theorem in this section and how it can be used to
determine if functions have solutions in a given interval.
 Derivatives

The Definition of the Derivative – In this section we define the derivative, give various
notations for the derivative and work a few problems illustrating how to use the definition of the
derivative to actually compute the derivative of a function.

Interpretation of the Derivative – In this section we give several of the more important
interpretations of the derivative. We discuss the rate of change of a function, the velocity of a
moving object and the slope of the tangent line to a graph of a function.

Differentiation Formulas – In this section we give most of the general derivative formulas and
properties used when taking the derivative of a function. Examples in this section concentrate
mostly on polynomials, roots and more generally variables raised to powers.

Product and Quotient Rule – In this section we will give two of the more important formulas
for differentiating functions. We will discuss the Product Rule and the Quotient Rule allowing us
to differentiate functions that, up to this point, we were unable to differentiate.

Derivatives of Trig Functions – In this section we will discuss differentiating trig functions.
Derivatives of all six trig functions are given and we show the derivation of the derivative
of sin(x) and tan(x)
Derivatives of Exponential and Logarithm Functions – In this section we derive the formulas
for the derivatives of the exponential and logarithm functions.

Derivatives of Inverse Trig Functions – In this section we give the derivatives of all six inverse
trig functions. We show the derivation of the formulas for inverse sine, inverse cosine and
inverse tangent.
Derivatives of Hyperbolic Functions – In this section we define the hyperbolic functions, give
the relationships between them and some of the basic facts involving hyperbolic functions. We
also give the derivatives of each of the six hyperbolic functions and show the derivation of the
formula for hyperbolic sine.

Chain Rule – In this section we discuss one of the more useful and important differentiation
formulas, The Chain Rule. With the chain rule in hand we will be able to differentiate a much
wider variety of functions. As you will see throughout the rest of your Calculus courses a great
many of derivatives you take will involve the chain rule!

Implicit Differentiation – In this section we will discuss implicit differentiation. Not every
function can be explicitly written in terms of the independent variable, e.g. y = f(x) and yet we
will still need to know what f'(x) is. Implicit differentiation will allow us to find the derivative in
these cases. Knowing implicit differentiation will allow us to do one of the more important
applications of derivatives, Related Rates (the next section).

Related Rates – In this section we will discuss the only application of derivatives in this section,
Related Rates. In related rates problems we are given the rate of change of one quantity in a
problem and asked to determine the rate of one (or more) quantities in the problem. This is often
one of the more difficult sections for students. We work quite a few problems in this section so
hopefully by the end of this section you will get a decent understanding on how these problems
work.

Higher Order Derivatives – In this section we define the concept of higher order derivatives
and give a quick application of the second order derivative and show how implicit differentiation
works for higher order derivatives.

Logarithmic Differentiation – In this section we will discuss logarithmic differentiation.

Logarithmic differentiation gives an alternative method for differentiating products and quotients
(sometimes easier than using product and quotient rule). More importantly, however, is the fact
that logarithm differentiation allows us to differentiate functions that are in the form of one
function raised to another function, i.e. there are variables in both the base and exponent of the
function.

Applications of Derivatives
Rates of Change – In this section we review the main application/interpretation of derivatives
from the previous chapter (i.e. rates of change) that we will be using in many of the applications
in this chapter.

Critical Points – In this section we give the definition of critical points. Critical points will show
up in most of the sections in this chapter, so it will be important to understand them and how to
find them. We will work a number of examples illustrating how to find them for a wide variety
of functions.

Minimum and Maximum Values – In this section we define absolute (or global) minimum and
maximum values of a function and relative (or local) minimum and maximum values of a
function. It is important to understand the difference between the two types of
minimum/maximum (collectively called extrema) values for many of the applications in this
chapter and so we use a variety of examples to help with this. We also give the Extreme Value
Theorem and Fermat's Theorem, both of which are very important in the many of the
applications we'll see in this chapter.

Finding Absolute Extrema – In this section we discuss how to find the absolute (or global)
minimum and maximum values of a function. In other words, we will be finding the largest and
smallest values that a function will have.

The Shape of a Graph, Part I – In this section we will discuss what the first derivative of a
function can tell us about the graph of a function. The first derivative will allow us to identify the
relative (or local) minimum and maximum values of a function and where a function will be
increasing and decreasing. We will also give the First Derivative test which will allow us to
classify critical points as relative minimums, relative maximums or neither a minimum or a
maximum.
The Shape of a Graph, Part II – In this section we will discuss what the second derivative of a
function can tell us about the graph of a function. The second derivative will allow us to
determine where the graph of a function is concave up and concave down. The second derivative
will also allow us to identify any inflection points (i.e. where concavity changes) that a function
may have. We will also give the Second Derivative Test that will give an alternative method for
identifying some critical points (but not all) as relative minimums or relative maximums.

Optimization Problems – In this section we will be determining the absolute minimum and/or
maximum of a function that depends on two variables given some constraint, or relationship, that
the two variables must always satisfy. We will discuss several methods for determining the
absolute minimum or maximum of the function. Examples in this section tend to center around
geometric objects such as squares, boxes, cylinders, etc.

More Optimization Problems – In this section we will continue working optimization

problems. The examples in this section tend to be a little more involved and will often involve
situations that will be more easily described with a sketch as opposed to the 'simple' geometric
objects we looked at in the previous section.

L’Hospital’s Rule and Indeterminate Forms – In this section we will revisit indeterminate
forms and limits and take a look at L’Hospital’s Rule. L’Hospital’s Rule will allow us to
evaluate some limits we were not able to previously.