Derivatives

B.E Owusu
KNUST

February 19, 2023

Derivatives

The Definition of The Derivative

The derivative of f (x) with respect to x is the function f ′ (x)and is
defined as,
f (x + h) − f (x)
f ′ (x) = lim
h→0 h
Example 1
Find the derivative of the following function using the definition of
the derivative.
f (x) = 2x 2 − 16x + 35

B.E Owusu (KNUST) Derivatives February 19, 2023 2 / 24

Derivatives
Solution
First plug the function into the definition of the derivative.
f (x + h) − f (x)
f ′ (x) = lim
h→0 h  
2(x + h)2 − 16 (x + h) + 35 − 2x 2 − 16x + 35
= lim
h→0 h
We can’t just plug in h = 0 since this will give us a division by zero
error. So, we are going to have to do some work. In this case that
means multiplying everything out and distributing the minus sign
through on the second term. Doing this gives,
h (4x + 2h − 16)
f ′ (x) = lim
h→0 h
= lim 4x + 2h − 16
h→0
= 4x − 16
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Derivatives
Example 2
Find the derivative of the following function using the definition of
the derivative.
t
g (t) =
t+1
First, we plug the function into the definition of the derivative,

g (t + h) − g (t)
g ′ (t) = lim
h→0 h !
1 t+h t
= lim −
h→0 h t+h+1 t+1

As with the first problem we can’t just plug in h = 0 . So, we will

need to simplify things a little. In this case we will need to combine
the two terms in the numerator into a single rational expression as
follows.
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Derivatives
Solution Cont’d

!
′
1 (t + h) (t + 1) − t (t + h + 1)
g (t) = lim
h→0 h (t + h + 1) (t + 1)
  
1 t 2 + t + th + h − t 2 + th + t
= lim  
h→0 h (t + h + 1) (t + 1)
!
1 h
= lim
h→0 h (t + h + 1) (t + 1)
So, upon canceling the h we can evaluate the limit and get the
derivative.
1 1 1
g ′ (t) = lim = =
h→0 (t + h + 1) (t + 1) (t + 1) (t + 1) (t + 1)2

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Derivatives
Example 3
Determine f ′ (0) for f (x) = |x| So, plug into the definition and
simplify.

f (0 + h) − f (0)
f ′ (0) = lim
h→0 h
|0 + h| − |0|
= lim
h→0 h
|h|
= lim
h→0 h
We will have to look at the two one sided limits and recall that
(
h if h ≥ 0
|h| =
−h if h < 0

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 |h| −h
lim− = lim− because h < 0 in a left-hand limit.
h→0 h h→0h
= lim− (−1)
h→0
= −1

|h| h
lim+ = lim+ because h > 0 in a right-hand limit.
h→0 h h
h→0
= lim+ 1
h→0
=1
The two one-sided limits are different and so
|h|
lim
h→0 h

doesn’t exist. However, this is the limit that gives us the derivative
that we’re after. If the limit doesn’t exist then the derivative doesn’t
exist either.
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Differentiation

Definition
A function f (x) is called differentiable at x = a if f ′ (a) exists and
f (x) is called differentiable on an interval if the derivative exists for
each point in that interval.
Theorem
If f (x) is differentiable at x = a then f (x) is continuous at x = a
Alternate Notation
Given a function y = f (x) all of the following are equivalent and
represent the derivative of f (x) with respect to x.

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 df dy d d
f ′ (x) = y ′ = = = (f (x)) =
(y)
dx dx dx dx
So, if we want to evaluate the derivative at x = a all of the following
are equivalent.

df dy
f ′ (a) = y ′ |x=a = =
dx x=a dx x=a

Note as well that on occasion we will drop the (x) part on the
function to simplify the notation somewhat. In these cases the
following are equivalent.
f ′ (x) = f ′

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Differentiation

Slope of a Tangent Line

This is the next major interpretation of the derivative. The slope of
the tangent line to f (x) at x = a is f ′ (a). The tangent line then is
given by,
y = f (a) + f ′ (a) (x − a)
Differentiation Formulas
d
1. If f (x) = c then f ′ (x) = 0 OR (c) = 0
dx
d
2. If f (c) = x n then f ′ (x) = nx n OR (x n−1 ), n is any
dx
number. This formula is sometimes called the power rule.

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Properties
1. (f (x) ± g (x))′ =
d df dg
f ′ (x) ± g ′ (x) OR (f (x) ± g (x)) = ±
dx dx dx
d df
2. (cf (x))′ = cf ′ (x) OR (cf (x)) = c
dx dx
Example 1
Differentiate each of the following functions.
1 f (x) = 15x 100 − 3x 12 + 5x − 46
2 g(t) = 2t 6 + 7t −6

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Solution
1.

f ′ (x) = 15 (100) x 99 − 3 (12) x 11 + 5 (1) x 0 − 0

= 1500x 99 − 36x 11 + 5

2.

g ′ (t) = 2 (6) t 5 + 7 (−6) t −7

= 12t 5 − 42t −7

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Product and Quotient Rule

Product Rule
If the two functions f (x) and g(x) are differentiable (i.e. the
derivative exist) then the product is differentiable and,

(f g)′ = f ′ g + f g ′

Quotient Rule
If the two functions f (x) and g(x) are differentiable (i.e the
derivative exist) then the quotient is differentiable and,
!′
f f ′ g − f g′
=
g g2

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Example 1
Differentiate
√ each
 of the following functions.
3
(a) y = x 2 2x − x 2
 
(b) f (x) = 6x 3 − x (10 − 20x)
(a) There’s not really a lot to do here other than use the product
rule. However, before doing that we should convert the radical
to a fractional exponent as always.
2
 
y = x 3 2x − x 2
Then,
2 1
  2
y′ = x − 3 2x − x 2 + x 3 (2 − 2x)
3
4 2 2 5 2 5 10 2 8 5
y′ = x −
3 x 3 + 2x 3 − 2x 3 = x3 − x3
3 3 3 3
(b)
   
f ′ (x) = 18x 2 − 1 (10 − 20x) + 6x 3 − x (−20)
= −480x 3 + 180x 2 + 40x − 10
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Example 2
Differentiate each of the following functions
3z + 9
(a) W (z) =
2√− z
4 x
(b) h (x) = 2
x −2
(a)

3 (2 − z) − (3z + 9) (−1)
W ′ (z) =
(2 − z)2
15
=
(2 − z)2
(b)
  1
  1
1
′
4 2
x − 2 x 2 − 2 − 4x 2 (2x)
h (x) =
(x 2 − 2)2
3 1 3 3 1
2x 2 − 4x − 2 − 8x 2 −6x 2 − 4x − 2
= =
(x 2 − 2)2 (x 2 − 2)2
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As a final topic let’s note that the product rule can be extended to
more than two functions, for instance.
1 (f g h)′ = f ′ g h + f g ′ h + f g h ′
2 (f g h w)′ = f ′ g h w + f g ′ h w + f g h ′ w + f g h w ′
3 (f g h)′ = ([f g] h)′ = [f g]′ h + [f g] h ′
4 (f g h)′ = [f ′ g + f g ′ ] h + [f g] h ′ = f ′ g h + f g ′ h + f g h ′

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Derivatives of Trig Functions

Before we actually get into the derivatives of the trig functions we

need to give a couple of limits that will show up in the derivation of
two of the derivatives.
sin θ cos θ − 1
lim =1 lim =0
θ→0 θ θ→0 θ
Before we start differentiating trig functions let’s work a quick set of
limit problems that this fact now allows us to do.

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Example 1
Evaluate each of the following limits
sin θ
(a) lim
θ→0 6θ
x
(b) lim
θ→0 sin(7x)

sin (3t)
(c) lim
t→0 sin (8t)

cos (2z) − 1
(d) lim
z→0 z

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Solution
(a)
sin θ 1 sin θ 1 1
lim = lim = (1) =
θ→0 6θ 6 θ→0 θ 6 6
(b) We notice that,
x 1
= sin(7x)
sin (7x) x
and then,
x 1
lim = lim sin(7x)
x→0 sin (7x) x→0
x
lim 1
x→0
=
lim sin(7x)
x
x→0
1
= sin(7x)
lim x
x→0

B.E Owusu (KNUST) Derivatives February 19, 2023 19 / 24

All we need to do is multiply the numerator and denominator of the
fraction in the denominator by 7 to get things set up to use the fact.
Here is the work for this limit.
x 1
lim =
x→0 sin (7x) lim 7 sin(7x)
7x
x→0
1
= sin(7x)
7 lim 7x
x→0
1
=
(7) (1)
1
=
7

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(c) First, we’ll split the fraction up as follows,

sin (3t) sin (3t) 1

lim = lim
t→0 sin (8t) t→0 1 sin (8t)

This is easy enough to do if we multiply the whole thing by

t
(which is just one after all and so won’t change the problem)
t
and then do a little rearranging as follows,

sin (3t) sin (3t) 1 t

lim = lim
t→0 sin (8t) t→0 1 sin (8t) t
sin (3t) t
= lim
t→0 t sin (8t)
! !
sin (3t) t
= lim lim
t→0 t t→0 sin (8t)

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(c) Here is the work for this limit.
! !
sin (3t) 3 sin (3t) 8t
lim = lim lim
t→0 sin (8t) t→0 3t t→0 8 sin (8t)
! !
sin (3t) 1 8t
= 3 lim lim
t→0 3t 8 t→0 sin (8t)
!
1
= (3)
8
3
=
8
(d)
cos (2z) − 1 2 (cos (2z) − 1)
lim = lim
z→0 z z→0 2z
cos (2z) − 1
= 2 lim
z→0 2z
= 2 (0)
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0
Derivatives February 19, 2023 22 / 24
Derivatives of the six trig functions

d d
(sin (x)) = cos (x) (cos (x)) = − sin (x)
dx dx
d d
(tan (x)) = sec2 (x) (cot (x)) = −csc2 (x)
dx dx
d d
(sec (x)) = sec (x) tan (x) (csc (x)) = − csc (x) co
dx dx
Example 2
Differentiate each of the following functions.
(a) y = 5 sin(x) cos(x) + 4 csc(x)
sin (t)
(b) P (t) =
3 − 2 cos (t)

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Solution
(a) Using the product rule
y ′ = 5 cos (x) cos (x) + 5 sin (x) (− sin (x)) − 4 csc (x) cot (x
= 5cos2 (x) − 5sin2 (x) − 4 csc (x) cot (x)
(b) Using the quotient rule
 
3 cos (t) − 2 cos2 (t) + sin2 (t)
P ′ (t) =
(3 − 2 cos (t))2
3 cos (t) − 2
=
(3 − 2 cos (t))2
make use of the fact that cos2 (θ) + sin2 (θ) = 1
 
3 cos (t) − 2 cos2 (t) + sin2 (t)
P ′ (t) =
(3 − 2 cos (t))2
3 cos (t) − 2
=
(3 − 2 cos (t))2
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