Applied math IB:Derivatives and Application of Derivatives 2021

Chapter 4
Derivatives and Application of derivatives
Definitions of Derivative

Definition 1: The derivative of a function at a variable x, denoted by , is given by:

Definition 2: The derivative of a function at a point a , denoted by is given by:

Notations
If to indicate that the independent variable is and the dependent variable is y, then some
common alternative notations for the derivative are as follows:

If we want to indicate the value of a derivative ⁄ in Leibniz notation at a specific number, we use the

notation which is a synonym for .

Example 1: Using the definition, find the derivative of the function

Solution:

f (a)  f ( x) a 2  8a  9  ( x 2  8 x  9) a 2  x 2  8(a  x)
f / ( x)  lim  lim  lim
a x ax ax ax a x ax
 lim ( x  a)  8  2 x  8
a x

Tangent Line:
Definition3: The tangent line to the curve at the point is the line passing through
the point and touching the curve at one point and with slope

Example 2: Find the slope of a tangent line at (5, 2) for the function given in example 2 above?
1 1
Solution :  f / (5) 
2 x 1 4

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Definition: A function f is said to be differentiable at a if exists.
It is differentiable on an open interval [or or or ]
if it is differentiable at every number in the interval.

EXAMPLE 3. Where is the function differentiable?

SOLUTION If , then

and so is differentiable for any .

Similarly, for we have . Then

and so is differentiable for any .

does not exist. (Why?).
Theorem: If is differentiable at , then is continuous at . ( The converse is not true)
Example 4: Though f is continuous at f 2, as lim x  2  f (2)  0 but it is not
x 2

differentiable at 2 as it is seen above.

Derivatives of Polynomials and Exponential Functions
The Constant Multiple Rule. If c is a constant and f is a differentiable function, then
[ ]

Constant Function: for f(x) = c, any constant c then

The Power Rule: If n is any real number, then

for any constant c

d x
The exponential Rule: For f ( x)  a x where a  0, a  1 a  a x ln a
dx

Exercise: Prove the above

EXAMPLE 5
(a) If , then (b) If ,then

(c) If , then . (d) .

(f) √ exercise

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The Sum/Difference Rule If f and g are both differentiable, then
[ ]

EXAMPLE 6: =

The Product Rule If f and g are both differentiable, then

[ ] ( )

EXAMPLE 7
⁄
Find the derivative of
Solution:
1
⁄ ⁄ 2 )
The Quotient Rule If f and g are both differentiable, then
( )
* + , provided that
[ ]

EXAMPLE 8 : Find the derivative of

Solution
2 x( x 4  1)  x 2 (4 x 3 )  2 x 5  2 x
f ' ( x)  
( x 4  1) 2 ( x 4  1) 2
Example 9: Find the derivative of f(x) = 2x
Solution:

EXAMPLE 10 If , find
Solution:
Derivatives of a Logarithmic Function
and

EXAMPLE 11: Differentiate

dy 3
Solution: y  ln x 3  3 ln x  
dx x
Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions
Example 12 Use definitions of derivatives show that the derivatives of is

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Solution
cos(x  h)  cos x cos x cosh sin x sinh  cos x
f ' ( x)  lim  lim
h 0 h h 0 h
cosh 1 sinh
 cos x lim  sin x lim   sin x
h 0 h h 0 h
Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions

Exercise: Prove the above

EXAMPLE 13 Differentiate

Solution:

sec x tan x(1  tan x)  sec x(sec 2 x) sec x(tan x  tan 2 x  sec 2 x) sec x(tan x  1)
 
(1  tan x) 2 (1  tan x) 2 (1  tan x) 2
The Chain Rule
The Chain Rule If f and are both differentiable and is the composite function f and where
, then is differentiable, denoted by is defined as:

In Leibniz notation, if and are both differentiable functions, then

EXAMPLE 14 : Find √
SOLUTION
We expressed as ( ) √ Since
⁄
and
√

Then ( )
√ √

The Power Rule Combined with the Chain Rule

If is any real number and is differentiable, then

Alternatively, [ ] [ ]

EXAMPLE 15 : Differentiate

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dy
Solution:  100( x 3  1) 99 (3x 2 )  300 x 2 ( x 3  1) 99
dx
Implicit Differentiation
The functions that we have met so far can be described by expressing one variable explicitly in terms of
another variable—for example, √ or
Or, in general, . Some functions are defined implicitly by a relation between and such as
or
Implicit differentiation consists of differentiating both sides of the equation with respect to and then
solving the resulting equation for .
EXAMPLE 16
If , then find

Solution
Differentiate both sides of the equation :

Since  
Derivatives of Inverse Trigonometric Functions
Arcsine Function:
Recall the definition of the arcsine function:
, where

Differentiating implicitly with respect to x, we obtain

Now ⁄ ⁄

√ √

Thus √ √

Derivatives of Inverse Trigonometric Functions

( ) ( )
√ √

( ) ( )
√ √

( ) ( )

EXAMPLE 17 Differentiate (a) and (b) √ .

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Solution:
(a)

√
(b) Exercise
Higher Derivatives
If is a differentiable function, then its derivative is also a function, so may have a derivative of its
own, denoted by . This new function is called the second derivative of because it is the
derivative of .Using Leibniz notation; we write the second derivative of as

( )

Another notation is .
The third derivative is the derivative of the second derivative: .

( )

The process can be continued. The fourth derivative is usually denoted by . In general, the
derivative of is denoted by and is obtained from by differentiating times. If , then we
write

EXAMPLE 18
If , then find .
Hyperbolic Functions
Definition of the Hyperbolic Functions

Hyperbolic Identities

sinh(  x)   sinh x cosh( x)  cosh x

cosh2 x  sinh 2 x  1 1  tanh 2 x  sec h 2 x
sinh( x  y)  sinh x cosh y  cosh x sinh y

cosh(x  y)  cosh x cosh y  sinh x sinh y

EXAMPLE 19: ( ) ( )

 cosh2 x  sinh 2 x  1

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Exercise: prove the others
Derivatives of Hyperbolic Functions

( )

We list the differentiation formula for the hyperbolic functions in the following Table.

√
Example 20 √ √ √ √

Inverse Hyperbolic Functions

Inverse hyperbolic functions can be expressed in terms of logarithms.

In particular, we have:
cosh1 x  ln( x  x 2  1) xR
sinh 1 x  ln( x  x 2  1) x 1
1 1 x
tanh 1 x  ln( ) 1  x  1
2 1 x
EXAMPLE 21 Show that ( √ )
Solution Let Then

So
Or, multiplying by

√
√

Note that , but √ . Thus, the minus sign is inadmissible and we have
√
Therefore √

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Derivatives of Inverse Hyperbolic Functions
d 1 d 1
(sinh 1 x)  (csc h 1 x)  
dx 1 x2 dx x x2 1
d 1 d 1
(cosh1 x)  (sec h 1 x)  
dx x2 1 dx x 1 x2
d 1 d 1
(tanh 1 x)  (coth1 x)  
dx 1 x2 dx 1 x2
Example22 : Prove that
√

Solution:

d d 1  x 
sinh 1 x  ln( x  x 2  1)  1 
 
dx dx x  x 2 1  x 2 1 
1 x 1  x 
   1  
 
x  x 2 1 x x 2 1  x 2 1 x 2 1 x  1 x 2  1 x 2 
1  x  1 x 2 
  
2  
x  1 x  1 x 2 
1

1 x 2

Exercise: Prove the others

Applications of Differentiation
Maximum and Minimum Values
Definition: A function has an absolute maximum (or global maximum) at if
for all in , where is the domain of . The number is called the maximum value
of on . Similarly, has an absolute minimum at if for all in and
the number is called the minimum value of on .
The maximum and minimum values of are called the extreme values of

Definition: A function has a local maximum (or relative maximum) at if when x is

near c. [This means that for all in some open interval containing c.]
Similarly, has a local minimum at if when is near c.
EXAMPLE 23 takes on its (local and absolute) maximum value of 1 infinitely
many times, since for any integer and for all .

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Likewise, is its minimumvalue, where is any integer.
EXAMPLE 24 If , then because for all. Therefore, is the
absolute (and local) minimum value of . This corresponds to the fact that theorigin is
the lowest point on the parabola . However, there is no highest point on
the parabola and so this function has no maximum value.
The Extreme Value Theorem If is continuous on a closed interval [ ] , then attains an absolute
maximum value and an absolute minimum value at some numbers and in [ ].

Fermat’s Theorem: If has a local maximum or minimum at , and if exists, then

Definition A critical number of a function is a number c in the domain of such that
either or does not exist.
⁄
EXAMPLE 25 Find the critical numbers of
SOLUTION The Product Rule gives
⁄ ⁄ ⁄
⁄

= ⁄ ⁄

Therefore, , that is , and does not exist when . Thus, the

critical numbers are and 0.

If f has a local maximum or minimum at c, then c is a critical number of f.

To find an absolute maximum or minimum of a continuous function on a closed interval:
The Closed Interval Method To find the absolute maximum and minimum values of a continuous
function on a closed interval [ ]:
1. Find the values of at the critical numbers of in ( .
2. Find the values of at the endpoints of the interval.
3. The largest of the values from Steps 1 and 2 is the absolute maximum value; the smallest
of these values is the absolute minimum value
EXAMPLE 26 Find the absolute maximum and minimum values of the function
⁄

SOLUTION Since is continuous on [ ] , we can use the Closed Interval Method:

Since exists for all , the only critical numbers of occur when , that is, or
.Notice that each of these critical numbers lies in the interval .

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The values of at these critical numbers are

The values of at the endpoints of the interval are ( )

Comparing these four numbers, we see that the absolute maximum value is and the absolute
minimum value is .
Note that in this example the absolute maximum occurs at an endpoint, whereas the absolute minimum
occurs at a critical number.
Example27
A road is to be built between two cities C1 and C 2 which are on opposite sides of a river of uniform

width r , C1 is a units from the river and C1 is b units from the river with a  b . A bridge will carry the
traffic across the river. Where shall the bridge be located to minimize the total distance between the
cities?

Solution:
The sum of the distances between the cities and the river is given by

d ( x)  a 2  ( p  x) 2  x2  b2
 ( p  x) x
 d / ( x)  
a  ( p  x)
2 2
x  b2
2

 ( p  x) x
To minimize the distance, take d / ( x)  0 ,  d / ( x)   0
a 2  ( p  x) 2 x2  b2

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( p  x) x x2 ( p  x) 2
   
a 2  ( p  x) 2 x2  b2 x 2  b 2 a 2  ( p  x) 2
2
 x 
2
b
     
 px a
x b
 
px a
pb
x
ab
 pb 
Note that the value obtained is minimum because d    0 (verify! )
//

 ab
The Mean Value Theorem
To arrive at the Mean Value Theorem we first need the following result.
Rolle’s Theorem: Let be a function that satisfies the following three hypotheses:
1. is continuous on the closed interval [ ].
2. is differentiable on the open interval .
3.
Then there is a number in such that .
Figure 1 shows the graphs of four such functions. In each case it appears that there is at least one
point on the graph where the tangent is horizontal and therefore . Thus, Rolle‘s
Theorem is plausible.

The Mean Value Theorem Let be a function that satisfies the following hypotheses:
1. is continuous on the closed interval [ ].
2. is differentiable on the open interval .
Then there is a number in such that

or, equivalently,

EXAMPLE 28: To illustrate the Mean Value Theorem with a specific function, let‘s consider

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. Since f is a polynomial, it is continuous and differentiable for all,
so it is certainly continuous on [ ] and differentiable on . Therefore, bythe Mean Value Theorem,
there is a number in such that

Now , and , so this equation becomes

Which gives , that is, ⁄√ . But must lie in , so ⁄√ .

How Derivatives Affect the Shape of a Graph

What Does Say about ?
Increasing/Decreasing Test
(a) If on an interval, then is increasing on that interval.
(b) If on an interval, then is decreasing on that interval.
EXAMPLE 29: Find where the function is increasing and decreasing.
SOLUTION
To use the I/D Test we have to know where and where . This depends on the signs
of the three factors of , namely, , , and . We divide the real line into intervals whose
endpoints are the critical numbers , and and arrange our work in a chart. A plus sign indicates that
the given expression is positive, and a minus sign indicates that it is negative. The last column of the chart
gives the conclusion based on the I/D Test. For instance, for , so f is decreasing on
(0, 2). (It would also be true to say that f is decreasing on the closed interval [ ])
Interval

The First Derivative Test Suppose that is a critical number of a continuous function .
(a) If changes from positive to negative at , then has a local maximum at .
(b) If changes from negative to positive at , then has a local minimum at .
(c) If does not change sign at (for example, if is positive on both sides of c or negative on both
sides), then has no local maximum or minimum at .

EXAMPLE 30: Find the local minimum and maximum values of the function fin Example 1 above.

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SOLUTION From the chart in the solution to Example 1 we see that changes fromnegative to
positive at -1, so is a local minimum value by the First DerivativeTest. Similarly, changes
from negative to positive at 2, so is also alocal minimum value. As previously noted
, is a local maximum value because changes from positive to negative at 0.
What Does Say about ?
Definition If the graph of lies above all of its tangents on an interval , then it is called concave
upward on . If the graph of lies below all of its tangents on I, it is called concave downward on .

Concavity Test
(a) If for all in , then the graph of is concave upward on .
(b) If for all in , then the graph of is concave downward on .

Definition A point on a curve is called an inflection point if is continuous there and the
curve changes from concave upward to concave downward or from concave downward to concave
upward at .
Another application of the second derivative is the following test for maximum and minimum values. It is
a consequence of the Concavity Test.
The Second Derivative Test Suppose is continuous near .
(a) If and , then has a local minimum at .
(b) If and , then has a local maximum at .

1
EXAMPLE 31: Discuss the curve with respect to concavity, points of inflection, and
2
local maxima and minima. Use this information to sketch the curve.
1
Solution: If , then
2

To find the critical numbers we set and obtain and . To use theSecond Derivative
Test we evaluate at these critical numbers:

27
Since and , is a local minimum. Since , theSecond
2
Derivative Test gives no information about the critical number 0. But since for and also

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for , the FirstDerivative Test tells us that doesnot have a local maximum or minimum at 0. [In
fact, the expression for shows thatf decreases to the left of 3 and increases to the right of 3.]
Since when or , we divide the real line into intervals with these numbers as endpoints
and complete the following chart.
Interval Concavity
Upward
Downward
Upward

The point is an inflection point since the curve changes from concave upward toconcave downward
there. Also is an inflection point since the curve changesfrom concave downward to concave
upward there.
Using the local minimum, the intervals of concavity, and the inflection points, we can sketch the curve.
Indeterminate Forms and L’Hopital’s Rule
Suppose we are trying to analyze the behavior of the function

Although is not defined when x , we need to know how behaves near 1. In particular, we would

like to know the value of the limit

In computing this limit we can‘t apply Law of the limit of a quotient, because the limit of the denominator
is 0. In fact, although the limit in the above function exists, its value is not obvious because both
numerator and denominator approach and is not defined.

In general, if we have a limit of the form

where both and as , then this limit may or may not exist and is called an

indeterminate form of type .

L’Hopital’s Rule: Suppose and are differentiable and near (except possibly at a).
Suppose that
and
or that and
(In other words, we have an indeterminate form of type or .) Then

if the limit on the right side exists (or is or ).

NOTE: L‘Hopital‘s Rule is also valid for one-sided limits and for limits at infinity or negative infinity;
that is, ― ‖ can be replaced by any of the symbols , , ,or .

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EXAMPLE 32 Find .

Solution: Since

we can apply L‘Hopital‘s Rule:

⁄

EXAMPLE 33: Calculate .

Solution: We have and , so l‘Hospital‘s Rule gives

Since and as , the limit on the right side is also indeterminate, but a second
application of L‘Hopital‘s Rule gives

Indeterminate Products
If and (or ), then it isn‘t clear what the value of ,
if any, will be. There is a struggle between and . If wins, the answerwill be ; if wins, the answer
will be (or ). Or there may be a compromise wherethe answer is a finite nonzero number. This kind
of limit is called an indeterminate form of type . We can deal with it by writing the product as a
quotient:

or
⁄ ⁄

This converts the given limit into an indeterminate form of type or so that we canuse l‘Hospital‘s Rule.

EXAMPLE 34 Evaluate .
SOLUTION The given limit is indeterminate because, as , the first factor approaches 0 while
the second factor approaches . Writing ⁄ ⁄ , we have ⁄ as , so
l‘Hospital‘s Rule gives
⁄
⁄ ⁄
.

Indeterminate Differences
If and , then the limit
[ ]
is called an indeterminate form of type .

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To find out the limit, we try to convert the difference into a quotient (for instance, by using a common
denominator, or rationalization, or factoring out a common factor) so that we have an indeterminate form
of type or .

EXAMPLE35: Compute .

SOLUTION First notice that and as , so the limit is indeterminate.

Here we use a common denominator:

⁄ ⁄

Note that the use of L‘Hopital‘s Rule is justified because and as ⁄ .

Indeterminate Powers
Several indeterminate forms arise from the limit
[ ]
1. and type
2. and type
3. and type
Each of these three cases can be treated either by taking the natural logarithm:
Let [ ] , then
or by writing the function as an exponential:
[ ] .
EXAMPLE 36 Calculate
SOLUTION First notice that as , we have and , so thegiven limit is
indeterminate. Let

Then [ ]
So L‘Hopital‘s Rule gives

So far we have computed the limit of lny, but what we want is the limit of y. To find this we use the fact
that : :

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Curve Sketching
Guidelines for Sketching a Curve
The following checklist is intended as a guide to sketching a curve by hand. Notevery item is
relevant to every function. (For instance, a given curve might not have anasymptote or possess
symmetry.) But the guidelines provide all the information you needto make a sketch that displays the
most important aspects of the function.
A. Domain It‘s often useful to start by determining the domain of , that is, the set of valuesof for
which is defined.
B. Intercepts
C. Symmetry
(i) If for all in ,the function is an even function and the curve is symmetric
about the -axis.
(ii) If for all , then is an odd function and the curve is symmetric about the origin.
iii) If for all in D, where is a positive constant, then is calleda periodic function
and the smallest such number is called the period. For instance, has period .
D. Asymptotes
(i) Horizontal Asymptotes. if either or , then the line is a
horizontalasymptote of the curve .If it turns out that , then we do not
have anasymptoteto the right.
(ii) Vertical Asymptotes. The line is a verticalasymptote if at least one of the following
statements is true:

(For rational functions you can locate the vertical asymptotes by equating the denominator to 0 after
canceling any common factors. But for other functions this method does not apply.)
(iii) Oblique Asymptotes. Some curves have asymptotes that are oblique, that is, neither horizontal nor
vertical. If [ ]
then the line is called an oblique/slant asymptote. For rational functions, slant
asymptotes occur when the degree of the numerator is one more than the degree of the denominator.
In such a case the equation of the oblique asymptote can be found by long division.
E. Intervals of Increase or Decrease Use the I/D Test. Compute and find the intervalson
which is positive ( is increasing) and the intervals on which is negative ( is decreasing).
F. Local Maximum and Minimum Values
G. Concavity and Points of Inflection Compute and use the Concavity Test.
H. Sketch the Curve Using the information in items A–G, draw the graph. Sketch the asymptotes

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as dashed lines.

EXAMPLE 37 Use the guidelines to sketch the curve

A. The domain is
{ } { }
B. The - and -intercepts are both 0.
C. Since , the function is even. The curve is symmetric about the y -axis.

D.
⁄

Therefore, the line y is a horizontal asymptote.

Since the denominator is 0 when , we compute the following limits:

Therefore, the lines x = 1 and x = -1 are vertical asymptotes.

( )
E.

Since when and when f’(x) , is increasing

on and and and decreasing on and .
F. The only critical number is . Since changes from positive to negative at 0, is a
local maximum by the First Derivative Test.
( )
G.

Since for all , we have

And . Thus, the curve is concave upward on the intervals and

and concave downward on . It has no point of inflection since 1 and -1 are not in
the domain of .
H. Using the information in E–G, we can sketch the graph.
Other Applications of Derivatives[Reading Assignment]
Rate of Change
The first interpretation/application of a derivative is rate of change. If f(x) represents a quantity at any x
then the derivative f ‗ (a) represents the instantaneous rate of change of f (x) at x =a .
Example 38 Suppose that the amount of water in a holding tank at t minutes is given by
V (t)=2t2-16t +35. Determine each of the following.
(a) Is the volume of water in the tank increasing or decreasing at t =1 minute?
(b) Is the volume of water in the tank increasing or decreasing at t =5 minutes?

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(c) Is the volume of water in the tank changing faster at t =1 or t =5 minutes?
(d) Is the volume of water in the tank ever not changing? If so, when?
Solution
We are going to need the rate of change of the volume to answer these questions. This means that we will
need the derivative of this function since that will give us a formula for the rate of change at any time t.
The derivative is.
V’’(t)=4t –16 OR

if the rate of change is positive then the quantity will be increasing and if the rate of change is negative
then the quantity will be decreasing.
(a) Is the volume of water in the tank increasing or decreasing at t =1minute?
In this case all that we need is the rate of change of the volume at t = 1or,
or

So, at t =1 the rate of change is negative and so the volume must be decreasing at this time.
(b) Is the volume of water in the tank increasing or decreasing at t =5 minutes?(exercise)
(c) Is the volume of water in the tank changing faster at t =1 or t =5 minutes?
To answer this question all that we look at is the size of the rate of change and we don‘t worry about the
sign of the rate of change. All that we need to know here is that the larger the number the faster the rate of
change.
(d) Is the volume of water in the tank ever not changing? If so, when?
The volume will not be changing if it has a rate of change of zero. In order to have a rate of change of
zero this means that the derivative must be zero. So, to answer this question we will then need to solve
V ‘‘(t) = 0 OR

This is easy enough to do.

4t -16 =0  t =4
So at t =4 the volume isn‘t changing. Note that all this is saying is that for a brief instant the volume isn‘t
changing. It doesn‘t say that at this point the volume will quit changing permanently.
Velocity
Definition: If is the position of a particle moving on a coordinate line, then
the instantaneous velocity of the particle at time is defined by

Example 39 Suppose that the position of an object after t hours is given by,

Answer both of the following about this object.

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(a) Is the object moving to the right or the left at t =10 hours?
(b) Does the object ever stop moving?
Solution
The derivative is,

(a) Is the object moving to the right or the left at t =10 hours?
To determine if the object is moving to the right (velocity is positive) or left (velocity is negative) we
need the derivative at t =10.

So the velocity at t =10 is positive and so the object is moving to the right at t =10.
(b) Does the object ever stop moving?
The object will stop moving if the velocity is ever zero. However, note that the only way a rational
expression will ever be zero is if the numerator is zero. Since the numerator of the derivative
(and hence the speed) is a constant it can‘t be zero.
Therefore, the velocity will never stop moving.
In fact, we can say a little more here. The object will always be moving to the right since the velocity is
always positive.
Acceleration
Definition: If is the position function of a particle moving on a coordinate line, then
the instantaneous acceleration of the particle at time is defined by

Or alternatively, since

Example 40: Let be the position function of a particle moving along a axis,
where is in meters and is in seconds.Find the instantaneous acceleration

Solution: .

Interpreting the Sign of Acceleration.

A particle in rectilinear motion is speeding up when its velocity and acceleration have the same sign and
slowing down when they have opposite signs.

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