4 Differentiation

Chapter 4

DIFFERENTIATION
Learning Outcome 4.1:

 use the derivatives of ex, In x, sin x, cos x, tan x, tan-1 x together with constant multiples,
sums, differences and composites.

4.1.1 Differentiating Exponentials and Logarithms

d f ( x)
1. e  f ' ( x )e f ( x )
dx
d f ' ( x)
2. ln f ( x) 
dx f ( x)

Example 1
Differentiate with respect to x:
2
1
(a) y  4e x (b) y  e3x (c) y  e3x
1
1
(d) ye x
(e) y  et (f) y 3
et

By NCX & TCY 59

 4 Differentiation
Example 2
Differentiate with respect to x:
(a) y  ln 3 x  (b)  
y  ln 6 x 3 (c) 
y  ln 3x 5  2 
(d) y  ln x  1 (e) y  ln 7  2 x 
3 4
(f) y  ln
x  2
2
,x  2
x2 1

Example 3 MJ03/Q8
2
The equation of a curve is y  ln x  , where x  0 .
x
Find the coordinates of the stationary point of the curve and determine whether it is a maximum or a
minimum point.

By NCX & TCY 60

 4 Differentiation
4.1.2 Differentiating Trigonometry Functions

d
1. sin  f ( x)  f ' ( x) cos f ( x)
dx
d
2. cos f ( x)   f ' ( x) sin  f ( x)
dx
d
3. tan f ( x)  f ' ( x) sec 2  f ( x)
dx
d
4. cot f ( x)   f ' ( x)cosec 2  f ( x)
dx
d
5. sec f ( x)  f ' ( x) sec[ f ( x)] tan f ( x)
dx
d
6. cosec f ( x)   f ' ( x)cosec[ f ( x)] cot f ( x)
dx

Note: Differentiation of the above formulae are only true for angles which are measured in radians.

Example 4
Differentiate with respect to x .
  5
(a) y  2 sin(3x)  3 cos(x 2 ) (b) y  4 tan 2 x    2
 2 x
(c) y  sin ln x  (d) y  ln sin x 
(e)  
y  tan e 2x
(f) y  e 2 tan x

By NCX & TCY 61

 4 Differentiation

Example 5 MJ12/31/Q5

1 1
The diagram shows the curve y  8 sin x  tan x for 0  x   . The x -coordinate of the maximum
2 2
2
point is  . Show that    .
3

4.1.3 The derivatives of sin n [ f ( x)] and cosn [ f ( x)]

d d
cos n [ f ( x)]  cos f ( x)
n
1.
dx dx
 ncos f ( x)  sin f ( x) f ' ( x)
n 1

 nf ' ( x)sin f ( x)cos f ( x)

n 1

d d
sin n [ f ( x)]  sin f ( x)
n
2.
dx dx
 nsin f ( x) cos f ( x) f ' ( x)
n 1

 nf ' ( x)cos f ( x)sin f ( x)

n 1

By NCX & TCY 62

 4 Differentiation

Example 6
dy
(a) Find when y  3 cos4 2 x .
dx
d
(b) Show that 5 sin 2 3x  15 sin 6 x .
dx

4.1.4 Derivatives of Inverse Trigonometric Functions

Common General

d 1 1  du 
dx
 
tan 1 x  2
x 1
d
dx
 
tan 1 u  2  
u  1  dx 

Example 7
Differentiate each of the following with respect to x .
2x
(a) y  tan 1 6 x (b) y  tan 1
3
(c) y  tan  e 
1 2x 1
(d) y  e tan x

By NCX & TCY 63

 4 Differentiation

Example 8
1
Find the equation of tangent to the curve y  tan 1 x at the point where x  2 .
2

Example 9
2
1 d2y  dy 
Given that y  x  tan x , show that 2
 2 x 1   .
dx  dx 

Learning Outcome 4.2:

 differentiate products and quotients

4.2 The Product and the Quotient Rules

1. Product rule: If u and v are functions of x , when y  uv , then

dy dv du
u v .
dx dx dx
u
2. Quotient rule: If u and v are functions of x , when y  , then
v

By NCX & TCY 64

 4 Differentiation
du dv
v u
dy dx dx .
 2
dx v
Example 10
Find the derivatives with respect to x :
(a)  
x 2  2x 2x 3  5  (b) x 2 e 3x (c) 2 x  3ln 3x
3 5 3
(d) x sin 2 x (e) sin x cos 2 x (f) e 3 x tan 4 x
1 x
(g)  
sin 3x ln x 2  1 (h) 
e 2 x ln 1  2 x 2  (i)
1  2x
tan x 1 x2
(j) (k) (l) y  x tan 1 x
x 1  e2x
tan 1 x
(m) y
x

By NCX & TCY 65

 4 Differentiation
Example 11 MJ12/32/Q9
1
Find the equation of the tangent to the curve y  x ln x , at the point where x  1 , giving your answer
2

in the form y  mx  c .

Example 12 MJ14/31/Q10

1
 x
The diagram shows the curve y  10e 2 sin 4 x for x  0 . The stationary points are labeled
T1 , T2 , T3 ,...... as shown.
(i) Find the x -coordinates of T1 and T2 , giving each x -coordinate correct to 3 decimal places.
(ii) It is given that the x -coordinate of Tn is greater than 25. Find the least possible value of n .

By NCX & TCY 66

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Example 13 MJ12/33/Q4
e2x
The curve with equation y  3 has one stationary point.
x
(i) Find the x -coordinate of this point.
(ii) Determine whether this point is a maximum or a minimum point.

Learning Outcome 4.3:

 find and use the first derivative of a function which is defined implicitly.

4.3 Implicit Functions

1. Some curves have equations that cannot easily be written as y  f (x) . For example it is
difficult to isolate y in the equation x 2  y 2  y  1 .

2. A relationship of this type, where y is not given explicitly as a function of x , is called an

implicit function.

d d  dy 
3. In general, g ( y )   g ( y )  .
dx  dy  dx 

4. The implicit equations with the terms involve both x and y will become more complicated when
the differentiation is carried out. The product or quotient rule should be used, sometimes in
conjunction with the chain rule.

By NCX & TCY 67

 4 Differentiation
Example 14
dy
Find of the following questions:
dx
(a) y 3  6x  x 2 (b) x3  y3  x 2  y  0 (c) 3x 2  2 y 3  1
(d) x 2 y 3  72 (e) x3  x 2 y  y3  3 (f) tanx  y   y 2
(g) x 3  2 y 3  3xy (h) y 2e x  x 2  9

By NCX & TCY 68

 4 Differentiation
Example 15 ON03/Q4
The equation of a curve is x  y  a , where a is a positive constant.
dy
(i) Express in terms of x and y .
dx
(ii) The straight line with equation y  x intersects the curve at the point P . Find the equation of
the tangent to the curve at P .

Example 16 ON12/31/Q7
The equation of a curve is ln(xy)  y 3  1 .
dy y
(i) Show that  .

dx x 3 y 3  1 
(ii) Find the coordinates of the point where the tangent to the curve is parallel to the y -axis, giving
each coordinate correct to 3 significant figures.

By NCX & TCY 69

 4 Differentiation
Example 17 MJ11/31/Q5
The curve with equation 6e 2 x  ke y  e 2 y  c where k and c are constants, passes through the point
P with coordinates ln 3, ln 2 .
(i) Show that 58  2k  c .
(ii) Given also that the gradient of the curve at P is –6, find the values of k and c .

Learning Outcome 4.4:

 find and use the first derivative of a function which is defined parametrically.

4.4 Parametric Equations

1. If x  f (t ) and y  g (t ) , where f and g are functions of a variable t defined for some domain of
values of t ,then the equations x  f (t ) and y  g (t ) are called parametric equations, and the
variable t is a parameter.

Example 18
Find the coordinates of the point on the curve x  5t 2 , y  10t , when
(a) t 6 (b) t  1

Example 19
The parametric equations of a curve are x  2 cos t , y  2 sin t , for 0  t  2 . What is the value of t at
point 0,2  ?

By NCX & TCY 70

 4 Differentiation
2. If a curve is given parametrically by equations for x and y in terms of parameter t , then
dy dy dt
  .
dx dt dx

Example 20
dy
Find for the following questions:
dx
(a) x  2t 3 , y  4t 2  1 (b) x  e 4t , y  e 2t  1

Example 21 ON12/33/Q3
4t
The parametric equations of a curve are x  , y  2 ln( 2t  3) .
2t  3
dy
(i) Express in terms of t , simplifying your answer.
dx
(ii) Find the gradient of the curve at the point for which x  1.

By NCX & TCY 71

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Example 22 ON14/31/Q4
1 1
The parametric equations of a curve are x  3
, y  tan 3 t , where 0  t   .
cos t 2
dy
(i) Show that  sin t .
dx
(ii) Hence show that the equation of the tangent to the curve at the point with parameter t is
y  x sin t  tan t .

By NCX & TCY 72