3

Differentiation
 The Derivative and the
3.1 Tangent Line Problem
The Tangent Line Problem
What does it mean to say that a line is tangent to a curve at
a point? For a circle, the tangent line at a point P is the line
that is perpendicular to the radial line at point P, as shown
in Figure 3.1.

Tangent line to a circle

Figure 3.1

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The Tangent Line Problem
For a general curve, however, the problem is more difficult.
For example, how would you define the tangent lines
shown in Figure 3.2?

Tangent line to a curve at a point

Figure 3.2

4
The Tangent Line Problem
You might say that a line is tangent to a curve at a point P
if it touches, but does not cross, the curve at point P.

This definition would work for the first curve shown in

Figure 3.2, but not for the second.

Or you might say that a line is tangent to a curve if the line

touches or intersects the curve at exactly one point.

This definition would work for a circle but not for more
general curves, as the third curve in Figure 3.2 shows.

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The Tangent Line Problem
Essentially, the problem of finding the tangent line at a point
P boils down to the problem of finding the slope of the
tangent line at point P.

You can approximate this slope

using a secant line through the
point of tangency and a second
point on the curve, as shown in
Figure 3.3.

The secant line through (c, f (c))

and (c + Δx, f (c + Δx))

Figure 3.3

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The Tangent Line Problem
If (c, f (c)) is the point of tangency and (c + Δx, f (c + Δx)) is a
second point on the graph of f, the slope of the secant line
through the two points is given by substitution into the
slope formula

Slope of secant line

The right-hand side of this equation is a difference

quotient.
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The Tangent Line Problem
The denominator Δx is the change in x, and the numerator
Δy = f (c + Δx) – f (c) is the change in y.

The beauty of this procedure is that you can obtain more

and more accurate approximations of the slope of the
tangent line by choosing points closer and closer to the
point of tangency, as shown in Figure 3.4.

Tangent line approximations

Figure 3.4 8
The Tangent Line Problem

The slope of the tangent line to the graph of f at the

point (c, f (c)) is also called the slope of the graph of f at
x = c.

9
Example 1 – The Slope of the Graph of a Linear Function

Find the slope of the graph of f (x) = 2x – 3 at the point

(2, 1).

Solution:
To find the slope of the graph of f when c = 2, you can
apply the definition of the slope of a tangent line, as shown.

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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

=2

The slope of f at (c, f (c)) = (2, 1)

is m = 2, as shown in Figure 3.5.

The slope of f at (2, 1) is m = 2.

Figure 3.5

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The Tangent Line Problem
The graph of a linear function has the same slope at any
point. This is not true of nonlinear functions.

The definition of a tangent line to a curve does not cover

the possibility of a vertical tangent line. For vertical tangent
lines, you can use the following definition.

If f is continuous at c and

the vertical line x = c passing through (c, f (c)) is a vertical

tangent line to the graph of f.
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The Tangent Line Problem
For example, the function shown in Figure 3.7 has a
vertical tangent line at (c, f (c)).

If the domain of f is the closed

interval [a, b], you can extend
the definition of a vertical
tangent line to include the
endpoints by considering
continuity and limits from the
right (for x = a) and from the
left (for x = b).
The graph of f has a vertical
tangent line at (c, f (c)).
Figure 3.7
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The Derivative of a Function

14
The Derivative of a Function
You have now arrived at a crucial point in the study of
calculus. The limit used to define the slope of a tangent line
is also used to define one of the two fundamental
operations of calculus—differentiation.

15
The Derivative of a Function
Be sure you see that the derivative of a function of x is also
a function of x.

This “new” function gives the slope of the tangent line to

the graph of f at the point (x, f (x)), provided that the graph
has a tangent line at this point.

The process of finding the derivative of a function is called

differentiation.

A function is differentiable at x if its derivative exists at x

and is differentiable on an open interval (a, b) if it is
differentiable at every point in the interval.

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The Derivative of a Function
In addition to f ʹ′(x), which is read as “f prime of x,” other
notations are used to denote the derivative of y = f (x).

The most common are

Notation for derivatives

The notation dy/dx is read as “the derivative of y with

respect to x” or simply “dy, dx.”

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The Derivative of a Function
Using limit notation, you can write

18
Example 3 – Finding the Derivative by the Limit Process

Find the derivative of f (x) = x3 + 2x.

Solution:

Definition of derivative

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Example 3 – Solution cont’d

20
Differentiability and Continuity

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Differentiability and Continuity
The following alternative limit form of the derivative is
useful in investigating the relationship between
differentiability and continuity. The derivative of f at c is

Alternative form of derivative

provided this limit exists

(see Figure 3.10).

As x approaches c, the secant line

approaches the tangent line.
Figure 3.10
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Differentiability and Continuity
Note that the existence of the limit in this alternative form
requires that the one-sided limits

exist and are equal. These one-sided limits are called the
derivatives from the left and from the right, respectively.

It follows that f is differentiable on the closed

interval [a, b] if it is differentiable on (a, b) and if the
derivative from the right at a and the derivative from the left
at b both exist.

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Differentiability and Continuity
If a function is not continuous at x = c, it is also not
differentiable at x = c. For instance, the greatest integer
function

is not continuous at x = 0, and

so it is not differentiable at x = 0,
(see Figure 3.11).

The greatest integer function is not differentiable

at x = 0, because it is not continuous at x = 0.

Figure 3.11

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Differentiability and Continuity
You can verify this by observing that

Derivative from the left

and

Derivative from the right

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Differentiability and Continuity
Although it is true that differentiability implies continuity (as
in Theorem 3.1), the converse is not true.

That is, it is possible for a function to be continuous at x = c

and not differentiable at x = c.

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Example 6 – A Graph with a Sharp Turn
The function

f (x) = | x – 2 |

shown in Figure 3.12 is continuous at x = 2.

f is not differentiable at x = 2, because the

derivatives from the left and from the right
are not equal.
Figure 3.12

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Example 6 – A Graph with a Sharp Turn cont’d

However, the one-sided limits

Derivative from the left

= –1

and
Derivative from the right

=1

are not equal.

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Example 6 – A Graph with a Sharp Turn cont’d

So, f is not differentiable at x = 2 and the graph of f does

not have a tangent line at the point (2, 0).

29
 f !x" ! f !c"
+ ,*
s
with x→c x→c )
lim ' f !x" ! f !c"( # lim !x ! c"
x!c
the
0?
Differentiability
# ) lim !x ! and
c"*) Continuity
lim
f !x" ! f !c"
x!c *
x→c x→c

# !0"' f "!c"(
From Example 6,# you
0 can
see that a function is not
differentiable at af !point
Because the difference x" ! f !cat
" approaches
which its zero as x → has
graph c, youacan conclude
sharp that
turn.
lim f !x" # f !c". So, f is continuous at x # c. ■
x→ c

You can summarize the relationship between continuity and differentiability as

follows.
1. If a function is differentiable at x # c, then it is continuous at x # c. So, differen-
tiability implies continuity.
2. It is possible for a function to be continuous at x # c and not be differentiable at
x # c. So, continuity does not imply differentiability (see Example 6).

ee www.CalcChat.com for worked-out solutions to odd-numbered exercises.

e slope of the graph at the In Exercises 3 and 4, use the graph shown in the figure.
To print an enlarged copy of the graph, go to the website
www.mathgraphs.com.
y 30
y
3.2 Basic Differentiation Rules
The Constant Rule

Notice that the Constant Rule is equivalent to saying that the slope of a horizontal
line is 0. This demonstrates the relationship between slope and derivative.
Figure 3.14
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The Power Rule
This binomial expansion is used in proving a special case
of the Power Rule.

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The Power Rule
Before proving the next rule, review the procedure for
expanding a binomial.

(x + Δx)2 = x2 + 2xΔx + (Δx)2

(x + Δx)3 = x3 + 3x2Δx + 3x(Δx)2 + (Δx)3

(x + Δx)4 = x4 + 4x3Δx + 6x2(Δx)2 + 4x(Δx)3 + (Δx)4

The general binomial expansion for a positive integer n is

(Δx)2 is a factor of these terms.

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Example 2 – Using the Power Rule
Function Derivative

a.

b.

c.

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The Constant Multiple Rule

Informally, the Constant Multiple Rule states that constants

can be factored out of the differentiation process, even if
the constants appear in the denominator.

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The Constant Multiple Rule

The Constant Multiple Rule and the Power Rule can be

combined into one rule. The combination rule is

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The Sum and Difference Rules

The Sum and Difference Rules can be extended to any

finite number of functions. For instance, if
F(x) = f (x) + g(x) – h(x), then Fʹ′(x) = f ʹ′(x) + gʹ′(x) – hʹ′(x).

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Example 7 – Using the Sum and Difference Rules

Function Derivative

a. f (x) = x3 – 4x + 5 f ʹ′(x) = 3x2 – 4

b. g(x) = + 3x3 – 2x gʹ′(x) = –2x3 + 9x2 – 2

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Derivatives of Sine and Cosine Functions

We have studied the following limits.

These two limits can be used to prove differentiation rules

for the sine and cosine functions.

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Derivatives of Exponential Functions
One of the most intriguing (and useful) characteristics of
the natural exponential function is that it is its own
derivative. Consider the following.

Let f (x) = ex.

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Derivatives of Exponential Functions
The definition of e

tells you that for small values of Δx, you have

e ≈ (1 + Δx)1/Δx, which implies that eΔx ≈ 1 + Δx. Replacing
eΔx by this approximation produces the following.

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Derivatives of Exponential Functions

This result is stated in the next theorem.

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Derivatives of Exponential Functions
You can interpret Theorem 3.7 graphically by saying that
the slope of the graph of f (x) = ex at any point (x, ex) is
equal to the y-coordinate of the point, as shown in
Figure 3.20.

Figure 3.20
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 Product and Quotient Rules
3.3
The Product Rule
We have learned that the derivative of the sum of two
functions is simply the sum of their derivatives. The rules
for the derivatives of the product and quotient of two
functions are not as simple.

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Example 1 – Using the Product Rule
Find the derivative of h(x) = (3x – 2x2)(5 + 4x).

Solution:
Derivative Derivative
First of second Second of First

Apply Product
Rule.

= (3x – 2x2)(4) + (5 + 4x)(3 – 4x)

= (12x – 8x2) + (15 – 8x – 16x2)

= –24x2 + 4x + 15
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Derivatives of Trigonometric Functions
Knowing the derivatives of the sine and cosine functions,
you can use the Quotient Rule to find the derivatives of the
four remaining trigonometric functions.

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Higher-Order Derivatives
Just as you can obtain a velocity function by differentiating
a position function, you can obtain an acceleration
function by differentiating a velocity function.

Another way of looking at this is that you can obtain an

acceleration function by differentiating a position function
twice.

s(t) Position function

v(t) = s ʹ′(t) Velocity function
a(t) = v ʹ′(t) = s ʹ′ʹ′(t) Acceleration function

The function given by a(t) is the second derivative of s(t)

and is denoted by s ʹ′ʹ′(t).
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Example 10 – Finding the Acceleration Due to Gravity

Because the moon has no atmosphere, a falling object on

the moon encounters no air resistance. In 1971, astronaut
David Scott demonstrated that a feather and a hammer fall
at the same rate on the moon. The position function for
each of these falling objects is given by

s(t) = –0.81t2 + 2

where s(t) is the height in meters and t is the time in

seconds. What is the ratio of Earth’s gravitational force to
the moon’s?

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Example 10 – Solution
To find the acceleration, differentiate the position function
twice.

s(t) = – 0.81t2 + 2 Position function

s ʹ′(t) = –1.62t Velocity function

s ʹ′ʹ′(t) = –1.62 Acceleration function

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Example 10 – Solution cont’d

So, the acceleration due to gravity on the moon is

–1.62 meters per second per second.

Because the acceleration due to gravity on Earth is

–9.8 meters per second per second, the ratio of Earth’s
gravitational force to the moon’s is

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