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Differentiation by First Principle

The document discusses differentiation by first principles. It provides examples of using first principles to find the derivatives of various functions, including x3, 1/x, 3t2 - 4t + 7, and sinθ. First principles involves taking the limit as h approaches 0 of the change in a function divided by the change in its input variable. The examples demonstrate applying this process to find the derivatives of different types of functions step-by-step. Applications of first principles include deriving Taylor approximations and coefficients.

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Nwigwe Promise Chukwuebuka
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186 views

Differentiation by First Principle

The document discusses differentiation by first principles. It provides examples of using first principles to find the derivatives of various functions, including x3, 1/x, 3t2 - 4t + 7, and sinθ. First principles involves taking the limit as h approaches 0 of the change in a function divided by the change in its input variable. The examples demonstrate applying this process to find the derivatives of different types of functions step-by-step. Applications of first principles include deriving Taylor approximations and coefficients.

Uploaded by

Nwigwe Promise Chukwuebuka
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DIFFERENTIATION BY FIRST PRINCIPLE

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Differentiation is a vast and a very useful subject in mathematics. The concept of differentiation is
studied in a branch of mathematics, called differential calculus.

In fact, this is a fundamental tool in maths. It is utilized not only in mathematics, but in almost all the science
subjects, also sometimes in psychology and other arts-related subjects too.
The differentiation is actually a process of finding derivative of function which is the measure of
sensitivity of the function (dependent variable) towards any change. This change is measured with
respect to some other quantity or function (independent variable).

We can also define derivative as the rate of change of a given function. It is little different from the  average rate of
change. Derivative is expressed in terms of the limit of rate of change in some function.The limit of the length of interval
approaches to zero. The differentiation may be explained as the optimum linear approximation of a function near
given input value.

For Example: The velocity of an object is the derivative of position of an object with respect to time.
Also, the derivative of velocity of an object with respect to time is known as acceleration.

There are various formulas for finding derivatives of different types of functions. There is a technique of
differentiating almost all the functions. It is called differentiation by first principles.

The formulas of differentiation are actually derived from this technique only.

EXAMPLES
The examples based on differentiation from first principles are given below:

Example 1: Find the derivative of x3 by first principles.

Solution: Let f(x) = x3

f ( x +h)−f ( x )
f (x) = lim
′
h→0 
h

= limh→0
( x +h)3−x 3
h
= limh→0
x3+h3+2xh(x+h)−x3h

= limh→0
 h3+2x2h+2xh2h

= limh→0(h2+2x2+2xh)

= 02+2x2+2x.0

= 2x2

Example 2: Differentiate 1x by the technique of first principles.

Solution : Let f(x) = 1x

f′(x)
= limh→0 1x+h−1xh

= limh→0
 x−x−hx(x+h)h

= limh→0
 −hx(x+h)h

= limh→0
−hxh(x+h)

= limh→0
−1x(x+h)

= −1x(x+0)

= −1x2
Example 3 : Differentiate 3t2−4t+7
 by first principles.

Solution : Let f(t) = 3t2−4t+7

f′(t)
= limh→0 f(t+h)−f(t)h

= limh→0
 [3(t+h)2−4(t+h)+7]−(3t2−4t+7)h

= limh→0
 [3(t2+h2+2th)−4(t+h)+7]−(3t2−4t+7)h

= limh→0
 3t2+3h2+6th−4t−4h+7−3t2+4t−7h

= limh→0
 3h2+6th−4hh

= limh→0
 (3h+6t−4)

= 3 x 0 + 6t - 4

= 6t - 4

Example 4: Prove that the derivative of sinθ


is cosθ using first principles.

Solution : Let f(θ)=sinθ

f′(θ)
= limh→0 f(θ+h)−f(θ)h

= limh→0
 sin(θ+h)−sinθh
Using the formula sin(A + B) = sin A cos B + cos A sin B

= limh→0
sinθ cos h+cosθ sin h−sinθh

= limh→0
sinθ(cos h−1)+cosθsin hh

= sinθ(limh→0
 cos h−1h)+ cosθ(limh→0 sin hh
)

Using the relations limh→0


 1−cos hh = 0 and limh→0 sin hh
=1, we get

= 0+cosθ

= cosθ

APPLICATIONS
Taylor
Approximations
If at a point  , a function   has a power series expansion

                                   
the coefficients      are given by:
                             

where       is the nth derivative of   evaluated at the point  .


Named after the English mathematician Brook Taylor, this infinite series
is called the Taylor expansion of the function   at  .

The Taylor expansion of the exponential function      is:


                                 
from which it follows that:
                            

Taylor approximations require both an expression and a point around


which to expand.
>
             

 
      (1.1)
Thus, around the point   the polynomial            
      behaves like          .

EXERCISES

First Principles

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