LESSON 24: The Derivative

If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.
- Isaac Newton

O.M. “Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz are the names we credit the existence
of infinitesimal calculus (as it was called) to. These giants of mathematics though, at the time,
would have argued as to who was first in carving out the theories and concepts involved in the
mathematics of small changes. Nevertheless, we are thankful for their respective contributions
to mathematical theory as calculus (as it is now called) is one of the most powerful branches
of mathematics. So once again we enter chartered territory as we explore one half of the most
fundamental concept in calculus – the derivative.”

24.1 GRADIENT OF A CURVE AT A POINT

vertical rise
The gradient of a line segment is simple to calculate: we simply calculate ,
horizontal shift
where vertical rise = change in y-axis values and horizontal shift = change in x-axis values.
But how do we calculate the gradient of a curve at some point, say x = a ? The method is as
follows:

Since BC is a line segment of the tangent PT, we can use the point B and C to calculate the
gradient as follows:
The gradient of the curve at A (x, y) is given by
𝑦2 − 𝑦1
m= //This is essentially, the gradient of the line segment BC.//
𝑥 2 − 𝑥1
 This method of finding the gradient of a curve at some point defines what we call the
derivative at that point.
Hence, the derivative at some point x = a is defined as:
The gradient of the tangent to the curve at x = a

24.2 THE DERIVATIVE AS A LIMIT.

The derivative can also be defined as the limit which finds the slope of the tangent line to a
function. When given a function f (x), and given a point P (x0 , f (x0)) on f , if we want to find
the slope of the tangent line to f at P, we can do this by choosing a nearby point
Q (x0 + h, f (x0 + h)) // The h represents a small increment between P and Q //
Next, we find the slope of the secant line containing PQ. The slope of the secant line , from
algebraic theory =
𝑓 (𝑥0 + ℎ) − 𝑓(𝑥0 )
m secant =
ℎ
The diagram below illustrates…

f (x0 + h) - f(x0)

Our intuition tells us that if h is small, the slope of this secant line should be a good
approximation of the slope of the tangent line. So we define the slope of the tangent line to
be the limit of the slope of secant lines (see diagram) as h approaches 0.
We write that mathematically as
𝑑𝑦 𝑓 (𝑥0 + ℎ)− 𝑓(𝑥0 )
m tangent = = lim
𝑑𝑥 ℎ→0 ℎ
is the slope of the tangent line to f at the given point (x0 , f (x0) )
This is the definition of the derivative as a limit.
24.3 DIFFERENTIATING FROM FIRST PRINCIPLES
The derivative is also known as the differential coefficient (gradient function or derived
function)
Differentiation is the process of obtaining the derivative. Differentiating from first principles
means to obtain the derivative using its definition as a limit.

Example 1: Consider the function y = f (x) = x2 ,

Then 𝛿y = f (x + 𝛿x) – f (x) // 𝛿x means a very small change in x //
= (x + 𝛿x )2 – x2
= x2 + 2𝑥 (𝛿x) + (𝛿x)2 – x2
𝛿𝑦 2
2𝑥 (𝛿𝑥) + (𝛿𝑥)
So =
𝛿𝑥
//Divide both sides by 𝛿x.//
𝛿𝑥

= 2x + 𝛿x
𝛿𝑦
Since, lim = lim ( 2𝑥 + 𝛿𝑥)
𝛿𝑥→0 𝛿𝑥 𝛿𝑥→0
= 2x
𝑑𝑦
Thus, = 2x .
𝑑𝑥
𝑑𝑦
// means “the derivative of the function y with respect to the variable x.//
𝑑𝑥
𝑑
We write this also as (x2) = 2x or f ' (x) = 2x
𝑑𝑥

24.4 BASIC DERIVATIVES

Derivatives of xn :
Differentiating from first principles, we get the following results:
𝑑
 (x2) = 2x1
𝑑𝑥
𝑑
 (x3) = 3x2
𝑑𝑥
𝑑
 (x4) = 4x3
𝑑𝑥
𝑑
Hence, in general we can deduce that (xn) = nxn – 1
𝑑𝑥
//This is known as the power rule of derivatives.//
Example 2: Differentiate each of the following with respect to x
1 3
(a) x2 (b) y = (c) f (x) = √𝑥 8 (d) f (x) = 𝑥 √5−8
𝑥4

Solution:
𝑑
(a) Using the formula (xn) = nxn – 1
𝑑𝑥
𝑑
(x2) = 2x
𝑑𝑥
1
(b) y = = x-4
𝑥4
𝑑𝑦 𝟒
(x-4) = - 4x -5 = −
𝑑𝑥 𝒙𝟓

3
(c) f (x) = √𝑥 8 = x8/3
8 4/3 8 3
f ' (x) =
3
x =
3
√𝑥 4

(d) f (x) = 𝑥 √5−8

f’(x) = (√5 − 8) 𝑥 √5−9

Trigonometric Derivatives:
It can be proven graphically that:
𝑑
 (sin x) = cos x
𝑑𝑥
𝑑
 (cos x) = – sin x
𝑑𝑥

EXERCISE 1:
Differentiate the following:
1 5 8
(a) y= : -5x-6 (b) y = √𝑥 8 x 3/5
𝑥5 5

𝑑𝑦
Find the value of at the given value of x
𝑑𝑥
y = x2 at x = - 5
𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑦
= 2x . Therefore , at x = - 5 , = 2(-5) = - 10
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
 TAKE-AWAYS
 The derivative is a function which returns the gradient of a curve at an arbitrary point.
It is also known as the gradient function, differential coefficient or derived function.
 The derivative can also be interpreted as a limit which finds the slope of a tangent line
to a function.
 Differentiating is the process of obtaining the derivative of a function.
 The interpretation of the derivative as a limit forms the theoretical basis by which we
differentiate from first principles.
 The basic derivatives are:
𝑑
(xn) = nxn – 1
𝑑𝑥
𝑑
(sin x ) = cos x
𝑑𝑥
𝑑
(cos x ) = – sin x
𝑑𝑥
P
x