DIFFERENTIABILITY

Dr. Gabriel Obed Fosu

Department of Mathematics
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZJfCMyQAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
ResearchGate ID: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gabriel_Fosu2

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 1 / 46

Lecture Outline

1 Introduction
Non Differentiable Functions

2 Derivatives of elementary functions

3 Differentiation Rules

4 Implicit Differentiation

5 Higher-Order derivatives

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 2 / 46

 Introduction

Introduction
1 The notion of differentiability is concerned with describe the rate of change of
a quantity relative to another.
2 Suppose the relation is expressed as a function then the derivative describes
the rate of change of the dependent variable relative to the independent
variable.
3 We can recall that, the slope/ tangent to the graph of the function at given
points is:
△y y 2 − y 1
slope = = (1)
△x x 2 − x 1

4 The slope of the line passing through the point (x 0 , f (x 0 )) and touching the
graph of f is
f (x) − f (x 0 )
Slope =
x − x0
Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 4 / 46
 Introduction

Introduction
Definition
Let f (x) be defined at x 0 ∈ (a, b). Then the derivative of f (x) at x 0 denoted by f ′ (x 0 )
is defined by
f (x) − f (x 0 )
f ′ (x 0 ) = lim
x→x 0 x − x0
provided the limit exist.

Suppose x close to x 0 by some small value h , then x = x 0 + h and so we have

f (x 0 + h) − f (x 0 )
f ′ (x 0 ) = lim (2)
h→0 h

provided the limit exist.

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 5 / 46

 Introduction

Introduction

Remarks
f (x) − f (x 0 )
1 f ′ (x 0 ) = lim is the derivative of f at x 0 .
x→x 0 x − x0

f (x) − f (x 0 )
2 f ′ (x 0− ) = lim− is the left-derivative of f at x 0 .
x→x 0 x − x0

f (x) − f (x 0 )
3 f ′ (x 0+ ) = lim+ is the right-derivative of f at x 0 .
x→x 0 x − x0

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 6 / 46

 Introduction

Introduction
Definition
1 Differentiation is the process of finding the derivative of a function.
2 f is said to be differentiable at x 0 when f ′ (x 0 ) exists.
3 A function f (x) is differentiable in an interval (a, b) if it is differentiable at every
point in (a, b).

Notations
The following notations can be used for derivative of f (x)
d f (x)
1) f ′ (x), 2) , 3) D x f (x), 4) D f (x)
dx

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 7 / 46

 Introduction

Example
Find the derivative of f (x) = x 2 + 3 at x = 2.
f (2 + h) − f (2)
We need to determine f ′ (2) = lim . We have
h→0 h

f (2 + h) − f (2)
f ′ (x 0 ) = lim (3)
h→0 h
h 2 + 4h + 4 − 4
= lim (4)
h→0 h
= lim (h + 4) (5)
h→0
= 4 (6)

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 8 / 46

 Introduction

Example
Show that f (x) = x 3 is differentiable at x = a .
f (a + h) − f (a)
We need to determine f ′ (a) = lim . We have
h→0 h

f (a + h) − f (a)
f ′ (a) = lim
h→0 h
(a + h) − a 3
3
= lim
h→0 h
a + 3a 2 h + 3ah 2 + h 3 − a 3
3
= lim
h→0 h
= lim (3a + 3ah + h 2 )
2 2
h→0
2
= 3a

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 9 / 46

 Introduction

Example
p
Determine the interval within which f (x) = x − 1 is differentiable.
f (x + h) − f (x)
We need to determine f ′ (x) = lim and examine the domain. We
h→0 h
have
p p
′ f (x + h) − f (x) x +h −1− x −1
f (x) = lim = lim
h→0 h h→0 h
p p p p
x +h −1− x −1 x +h −1+ x −1
= lim ×p p
h→0 h x +h −1+ x −1
x + h − 1 − (x − 1)
= lim ³p p ´
h→0
h x +h −1+ x −1
1 1
= p = p p
x −1+ x −1 2 x −1
Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 10 / 46
 Introduction

p
1 Thus f ′ (x) is defined if 2 x − 1 > 0 =⇒ x > 1.
p
2 Therefore the function f (x) = x − 1 is differentiable in (1, ∞).
p
3 This is smaller than the domain of f (x) = x − 1 which is [1, ∞).

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 11 / 46

 Introduction Non Differentiable Functions

If f is differentiable at a , then it is continuous at a .

Thus a function is not differentiable at a point if
1 the graph has corner or a kink
2 the function is discontinuous there
3 there is a vertical tangent line to the function at that point

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 12 / 46

 Derivatives of elementary functions

Derivatives of elementary functions

We now turn our focus to the derivatives of the following functions:
1 Constant
2 Power
3 Trigonometric
4 Exponential
5 Logarithmic
6 Hyperbolic
7 Inverse Trigonometric
8 Inverse Hyperbolic

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 14 / 46

 Derivatives of elementary functions

Differentiation of constant functions

The derivatives of constants function f (x) = c are given by

d
f (x) = 0
dx

for c constant. that is

f (x + h) − f (x) c − c
f ′ (x) = lim = =0 (7)
h→0 h h

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 15 / 46

 Derivatives of elementary functions

Differentiation of Power functions

Power functions are functions of the form

f (x) = x n (8)

where n ∈ R. Then we have

d d n
f (x) = x (9)
dx dx
= nx n−1 (10)

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 16 / 46

 Derivatives of elementary functions

Example
1 p
1) f (x) = x 4 , 2) f (x) = , 3) f (x) = 3
x
x5
d
1 f (x) = x 4 =⇒ f (x) = 4x 4−1 = 4x 3 .
dx

d 5
2 f (x) = x −5 =⇒ f (x) = −5x −5−1 = − 6 .
dx x

d 1 1 1
3 f (x) = x 1/3 =⇒ f (x) = x (1/3)−1 = x −2/3 = p
3
.
dx 3 3 3 x2

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 17 / 46

 Derivatives of elementary functions

Differentiation of Trigonometric functions

Below are the derivatives of circular functions
d
1 sin x = cos x
dx
d
2 cos x = − sin x
dx
d
3 tan x = sec2 x
dx
d
4 cot x = − csc2 x
dx
d
5 sec x = sec x tan x
dx
d
6 csc x = − csc x cot x
dx

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 18 / 46

 Derivatives of elementary functions

Differentiation of Inverse Trigonometric Functions

d 1
1 (sin−1 x) = p
dx 1 − x2
d 1
2 (cos−1 x) = − p
dx 1 − x2
d 1
3 (tan−1 x) =
dx 1 + x2
d 1
4 (cot−1 x) = −
dx 1 + x2
d 1
5 (sec−1 x) = p
dx |x| 1 − x 2
d 1
6 (csc−1 x) = − p
dx |x| 1 − x 2

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 19 / 46

 Derivatives of elementary functions

Differentiation of Exponential and Logarithmic functions

1 The derivative of functions of the form a x is given by
d x
a = a x ln a (11)
dx

2
d x d
e = (x) × e x = e x (12)
dx dx

3
d
d dx
(x) 1
ln x = = (13)
dx x x

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 20 / 46

 Derivatives of elementary functions

Differentiation of Hyperbolic Functions

d
1 (sinh x) = cosh x
dx
d
2 (cosh x) = sinh x
dx
d
3 (tanh x) = sech2 x
dx
d
4 (coth x) = −csch2 x
dx
d
5 (sechx) = −sechx tanh x
dx
d
6 (csch x) = −cschx coth x
dx

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 21 / 46

 Derivatives of elementary functions

Differentiation of Inverse Hyperbolic Functions

d 1
1 (sinh−1 x) = p
dx x2 + 1
d 1
2 (cosh−1 x) = p ; x >1
dx x2 − 1
d 1
3 (tanh−1 x) = ; |x| < 1
dx 1 − x2
d 1
4 (coth−1 x) = ; |x| > 1
dx 1 − x2
d 1
5 (sech−1 x) = − p ; 0<x <1
dx x 1 − x2
d 1
6 (csch−1 x) = − p , x ̸= 0
dx |x| 1 − x 2

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 22 / 46

 Differentiation Rules

Differentiation of sums of functions

For functions f (x) and g (x), and constants α, β
d d d
(α f (x) ± βg (x)) = α f (x) ± β g (x) (14)
dx dx dx

Example
Find the first derivative of f (x) = x 4 + 6 sin x + 4 − ln x
We have that
d 4 d d d
f ′ (x) = x +6 sin x + 4− ln x
dx dx dx dx
1
= 4x 3 + 6 cos x + 0 −
x
1
= 4x 3 + 6 cos x −
x
Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 24 / 46
 Differentiation Rules

Differentiation of products of functions

The derivative of product of functions f and g is given by
d d d
fg=f g +g f (15)
dx dx dx

Example
Find h ′ (x) if h(x) = sin x cos x
We notice that h(x) is the product of the functions f (x) = sin x and g (x) = cos x .
Hence applying the product rule we have
d d d
h(x) = f g +g f
dx dx dx
= sin x(− sin x) + cos x(cos x)
= − sin2 x + cos2 x
Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 25 / 46
 Differentiation Rules

Example
Find h ′ (x) if h(x) = e x csc x
d d d
h(x) = f g +g f
dx dx dx
= e x (− csc x cot x) + csc x(e x )
= −e x csc x cot x + e x csc x
= e x csc x(1 − cot x)

Example
Find h ′ (x) if h(x) = (e x + x 2 )(3x + tan x)
d d d
h(x) = f g +g f
dx dx dx
= (e x + x 2 )(3x ln 3 + sec2 x) + (3x + tan x)(2x + e x )
Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 26 / 46
 Differentiation Rules

Differentiation of Rational functions

The derivative of rational functions is given by
d d
µ ¶ g f −f g
d f d x d x
= (16)
dx g g2

Example
Find h ′ (x) if h(x) = tan x
sin x
Recall that h(x) = . Hence applying the quotient rule we have
cos x
d d
g f −f g
d d x = cos x(cos x) − sin x(− sin x) = 1 2
µ ¶
h(x) = dx = sec2 x
dx g2 cos2 x cos x
Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 27 / 46
 Differentiation Rules

Example
x3 + x + 2
Find h ′ (x) if h(x) =
x2 + 4

Notice that h(x) is the quotient of the functions f (x) = x 3 + x + 2 and g (x) = x 2 + 4.
Hence applying the quotient rule we have
d d
g f −f g
d dx dx
h(x) =
dx g2
(x 2 + 4)(3x 2 + 1) − (x 3 + x + 2)(2x)
=
(x 2 + 4)2

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 28 / 46

 Differentiation Rules

Differentiation of composite functions

1 Given two function f (x) and u(x), then their composite denoted h(x) is defined
by
h(x) = f [u(x)] (17)
2 The derivative of h(x) is
d d f du
h(x) = · (18)
dx du dx
3 This is also known as the chain rule.

Note
h(x) is not the product of functions. The functions f and u are not multiplying but
rather u is "placed" in f as an argument.

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 29 / 46

 Differentiation Rules

Example
Find h ′ (x) if h(x) = e cos x
1 Notice that h(x) is the composite of the functions f (x) = e x and u(x) = cos x
that is f (u) implies replacing the x (argument) in f (x) by u(x).
df du
2 Thus = eu and = − sin x .
du dx
3 Hence applying the composite rule we have
d d f du
h(x) = ·
dx du dx
= e u · (− sin x)
= −e cos x sin x

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 30 / 46

 Differentiation Rules

Example
p
Find h ′ (x) if h(x) = x 2 + 5
p
1 Notice that h(x) is the composite of the functions f (u) = u and u(x) = x 2 + 5
that is f (u) implies replacing the x (argument) in f (x) by u(x).
df 1 du
2 Thus = p and = 2x .
du 2 u dx
3 Hence applying the composite rule we have
d d f du
h(x) = ·
dx du dx
1 x
= p · (2x) = p
2 u x2 + 5

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 31 / 46

 Differentiation Rules

Example
Find h ′ (x) if h(x) = cos2 (x 3 + 4)
1 Notice that h(x) is the composite function f (u(z(x))) where
f (u) = u 2 , u(z) = cos z and z(x) = x 3 + 4.
df du dz
2 Thus = 2u and = − sin z and = 3x .
du dz dx
3 Hence applying the composite rule we have
d d f du dz
h(x) = · ·
dx du dz dx
= (2u) · (− sin z) · (3x)
= (2 cos x 3 + 4 )(− sin x 3 + 4 (3x)
¡ ¢ ¡ ¢

= −6x cos x 3 + 4 sin x 3 + 4

¡ ¢ ¡ ¢

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 32 / 46

 Differentiation Rules

Derivatives of inverse functions

Suppose y = f −1 (x) then x = f (y). Thus

dy 1 1
= = ′ (19)
d x d x/d y f (y)

Example
Find the derivatives of
1 y = ln x
2 y = sin−1 x
3 y = cos−1 x

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 33 / 46

 Differentiation Rules
1

y = ln x =⇒ x = e y (20)
dx
Thus = ey (21)
dy
dy 1 1
and so = y = (22)
dx e x
2

y = sin−1 x =⇒ x = sin y (23)

dx
Thus = cos y (24)
dy
dy 1 1 1
so = =q =p (25)
d x cos y 1 − x2
1 − sin2 y

d (cos−1 x) 1 1 1 1
3 = dx = = −p = −p
dx /d y − sin y 2
1 − cos y 1 − x2
Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 34 / 46
 Implicit Differentiation

Implicit Differentiation
Definition (Implicit function)
These are functions which cannot be easily expressed in the form of y = f (x).

Example
1
The function y = x 2 is implicitly defined by the equation x 2 − 2y = 0 and the
2
derivative with respect to x is
d £ 2 ¤ d
x − 2y = (0) (26)
dx dx
2x − 2y ′ = 0 (27)
′
y =x (28)

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 36 / 46

 Implicit Differentiation

Example
The equation y = 2x+3
x is implicitly defined as x y −2x = 3 and its differentiation gives

d £ ¤ d
x y − 2x = (3) (29)
dx dx
(y + x y ′ ) − 2 = 0 (30)
2− y
y′ = (31)
x
2 − 2x+3
x
y′ = (32)
x
3
y′ = − 2 (33)
x

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 37 / 46

 Implicit Differentiation

Example
The equation x y + e y = 1 implicitly defines the function y. There is no explicit
formula to define y. But the derivative with respect to x can be still obtained as
follows
d £ d
xy +ey =
¤
(1) (34)
dx dx
(y + x y ′ ) + y ′ e y = 0 (35)
y ′
(x + e )y = −y (36)
dy y
=− (37)
dx x +ey
y
=− (38)
x +1−xy

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 38 / 46

 Higher-Order derivatives

Higher-Order derivatives
Notice that the derivatives of functions are also functions. Hence we can find the derivatives of the
derivatives of functions. These are precisely the higher derivatives of the given function.

Second order derivatives can be denoted by any of the following

′′ d 2 f (x)
1) f (x), 2) , 3) D 2x f (x), 4) D 2 f (x)
d x2

Third order derivatives can be denoted by any of the following

′′′ d 3 f (x)
1) f (x), 2) , 3) D 3x f (x), 4) D 3 f (x)
d x3

n t h order derivatives can be denoted by any of the following

d n f (x)
1) f n (x), 2) , 3) D nx f (x), 4) D n f (x)
d xn
Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 40 / 46
 Higher-Order derivatives

Example

y = t 3 − 6t 2 + 9t (39)
dy
= 3t 2 − 12t + 9 (40)
dx
d2y
= 6t − 12 (41)
d x2
d3y
=6 (42)
d x3
dn y
= 0; n≥4 (43)
d xn

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 41 / 46

 Higher-Order derivatives

You notice that the higher derivatives does

Example not vanish, but follows some pattern, that is

y = sin x (44) 1 f n (x) = sin x; n = 4k for some k

dy
= cos x (45) 2 f n (x) = cos x; n = 4k + 1 for some k
dx
d2y
= − sin x (46) 3 f n (x) = − sin x; n = 4k + 2 for some k
d x2
d3y
= − cos x (47) 4 f n (x) = − cos x; n = 4k + 3 for some k
d x3
d4y
= sin x (48)
d x4
d5y Now let look at a theorem that aids
= cos x (49) in computing the product of higher-order
d x5
derivatives.
Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 42 / 46
 Higher-Order derivatives

Suppose y(x) is a product of the functions f and g that is y = f g . Then

D y = gD f + f Dg (50)
2 2 2
D y = D((g D f + f D g )) = g D f + 2D f D g + f D g (51)
3 2 2 3 2 2 3
D y = D(g D f + 2D f D g + f D g ) = g D f + 3D f D g + 3D f D g + f D g (52)
.. .
. = .. Ã !
n
Dn y = g Dn f + D g D n−1 f + · · · + f D n g (53)
1

Theorem (Leibnitz theorem)

Let y = f g where f and g are functions of x , then the n th derivative of y is given
by à !
n n
Dn y = D r g D n−r f
X
r =0 r

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 43 / 46

 Higher-Order derivatives

Example
Find the third derivative of y = x 2 e x

1 Let g (x) = x 2 =⇒ g ′ (x) = 2x, g ′′ (x) = 2, g ′′′ (x) = 0

2 If f (x) = e x =⇒ f ′ (x) = f ′′ (x) = f ′′′ (x) = e x
à !
3 3
D3y = D r g D 3−r f
X
(54)
r =0 r
à ! à ! à ! à !
3 0 3 3 1 2 3 2 1 3 3
= D gD f + D gD f + D gD f + D g D0 f (55)
0 1 2 3
= x 2 e x + 3(2x)(e x ) + 3(2)(e x ) + 0(e x ) (56)
= e x (x 2 + 6x + 6) (57)

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 44 / 46

 Higher-Order derivatives

Exercise
x2 + x − 2 ex
1 Find the first derivatives of 1) f (x) = 2) f (x) =
µ ¶ x3 + 6 1 + x3
1
3) f (x) = 2 (tan x)
x +1
2 Find the implicit derivative of the function y or θ with respect to x or r :

1) y 2 − x 2 = sin x y 2) x 3 + y 3 − 9x y = 0 3) x 2 y + y 2 x = 6
¡ ¢

6) cos r + cot θ = r.
¡ ¢ ¡ ¢
4) x + tan x y = 0 5) x cos 2x + 3y = y sin x

3 Find the general formula for the n th derivatives of the following.

1 y = ln x
2 y = e ax
3 y = sin x

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 45 / 46

 END OF LECTURE
THANK YOU

Dr. Gabby (KNUST-Maths) Differentiability 46 / 46