COLLEGE OF GENERAL EDUCATION

MATH1030
Unit 1
The Derivative
Limits ............................................................................................................................3
Graphical Limits ........................................................................................................3
Continuity.................................................................................................................5
Algebraic Limits ........................................................................................................8
Limits by algebraic simplification: Common methods ............................................10
Limits using tables ..................................................................................................11
Limit as x goes to 0 x → 0 .....................................................................................15
Limit as x goes to infinity x → ∞ ............................................................................17
The Derivative ............................................................................................................23
Slope of a Straight Line ...........................................................................................23
The Tangent Line ....................................................................................................27
The Delta Process – Definition of the Derivative ....................................................28
Basic Derivative Rules.............................................................................................31
Product Rule f ( x) g ( x ) .........................................................................................36
f ( x)
Quotient Rule g ( x)
..................................................................................................39
Chain Rule  f ( g ( x ) )  ..........................................................................................42
Implicit Differentiation ...........................................................................................46
Mixed Derivatives...................................................................................................47
Higher Derivatives ..................................................................................................48
Variables other than x ...........................................................................................52
Page 2 of 52
Limits
Graphical Limits

A limit is the value the function, f ( x ) , approaches as x approaches a value.

For this graph we can approach x = 3 from the

left or right, and see that f ( x ) approaches 2 .

Limit as x → 3+ of f ( x) is 2
[Right-hand limit]

Limit as x → 3− of f ( x) is 2
[Left-hand limit]

1
Numerically: For the graph above. f ( x ) = − ( x − 3) + 2
2

3
x→3
x→3
x f ( x)
x f ( x)
2.9 1.997
3.1 1.997
2.99 1.99997
3.01 1.99997
2.999 1.9999997
3.001 1.9999997
2.9999 1.999999997
3.0001 1.999999997
From the tables we can see to approach a number means to get “infinitesimally
close”.
To approach a value also means to get close but NEVER equal the number.

Definition: Limit of a Function

We denote the limit as lim f ( x) = L , x ≠ a
x→a
and say “the limit of f ( x ) as x
approaches a is L ”

Condition for Existence of The Limit

lim f ( x) = L exists if and only if lim− f ( x) = L and lim+ f ( x) = L .
x→a x→a x→a

That is: If the left and right hand limits exist and are equal, then the limit exists.

Page 3 of 52
Example:
Determine left and right-hand limits as indicated for the following graphs. Determine
if the limits exist.

a) lim f ( x ) =
x → 0−

lim f ( x ) =
x → 0+

lim f ( x ) =
x →0

b) lim f ( x ) =
x →1−

lim f ( x ) =
x →1+

lim f ( x ) =
x →1

Page 4 of 52
Continuity

Most graphs we will study in this course are smooth

simple functions:

Think: you can draw the graph from −∞ to ∞

without lifting your pencil

These functions are called continuous.

Continuity of a Function

A function f ( x) is continuous at x = a if:

1. f (a ) exists
2. lim f ( x) exists
x→a

3. lim f ( x) = f (a )
x→a

Graphically continuity means that over a given interval there are no holes, breaks or
“sharp peaks” in the graph over that interval.

If a function is not continuous we say it is discontinuous.

The following graphs are Discontinuous:

Infinite Jump Removable

They are caused by:

1  ( x + 1)2 + 4, x ≤ −1 x( x − 3)
y= 2 f ( x) =  y=
x  2 x + 4, x > −1 2( x − 3)

Note: A removable discontinuity will not show on your graphing device!

Page 5 of 52
Example:
Sketch the following graphs, state any types of discontinuity and any values not in
the domain.

2
a) y =
x−2

x( x + 2) 2
b) y =
x

 x3 , x<0
c) f ( x) = 
− x + 2, x>0

Page 6 of 52
Example:
Determine left and right hand limits as indicated for the following graphs. Determine
if the limits exist.

a) lim f ( x ) = lim f ( x ) =
x → 0− x →1−

lim f ( x ) = lim f ( x ) =
x → 0+ x →1+

lim f ( x ) = lim f ( x ) =
x →0 x →1

b) lim f ( x ) = lim f ( x ) =
x → 0− x →−1−

lim f ( x ) = lim f ( x ) =
x → 0+ x →−1+

lim f ( x ) = lim f ( x ) =
x →0 x →−1

c) lim f ( x ) =
x → 0−

lim f ( x ) =
x → 0+

lim f ( x ) =
x →0

Page 7 of 52
Algebraic Limits

From the graphs section, we see that finding limits for certain functions is very easy.

The graphs below are all continuous.

f ( x ) = ( x − 1) 2 − 1 f ( x ) = x3 − x f ( x ) = x 6 − 3x 2 − x + 1

lim ( x − 1) 2 − 1 = lim x3 − x = lim x 6 − 3 x 2 − x + 1 =

x→2 x →−1 x →0

For all values of a, lim f ( x ) = f ( a )

x→a

For graphs that are discontinuous or have restricted domains,

As long as we choose the points that belong to the domain:

x( x − 1) 1 lim x +1 =
lim = lim = x →3
x →−1 x −1 x →1 x +1

Direct Substitution Rule

For the limit lim f ( x) , if a is in the domain of f ( x)
x→a

then we can just substitute the value

so lim f ( x) = f (a )
x→a

Page 8 of 52
Example:
Determine the following limits using Direct Substitution if possible.

a) lim ( x 2 − 7 )
x→4
(
b) lim 2 x 2 − 3 x + 2
x→2
)

x →0
(
c) lim e x − x 2 ) d) lim x 2 − 9
x →5

Example 2:
Determine the following limits using Direct Substitution if possible.

x( x − 2) x2 − 4 x2 − 4
a) lim b) lim c) lim
x → 0 ( x − 2) x→2 x + 2 x→2 x − 2

1 1
d) lim e) lim x − 4 f) lim
x →−1 x x →8 x →10 x −9

What values are not in the domain for the above functions?

Page 9 of 52
When a is NOT in the domain for the limit lim f ( x) : We can try some ALGEBRA.
x→a

Some common methods of algebraic simplification include:

1. Factor and cancel

2. Combining fractions
3. Rationalization

Limits by algebraic simplification: Common methods

Factor and cancel

x 2 + 3x − 4
lim
x →−4 x+4

Combining fractions

 1 1 
lim  − 2 
x→2 4 x − 8 x −4


Rationalization (Conjugate)

1+ x −1
lim
x →0 x

Page 10 of 52
Limits using tables

If we cannot fix the discontinuity algebraically, to see if the limit exists we can:
1. look at the graph (if available)
2. make table of values

Remember:
• If the left and right hand limits exist and are equal, then the limit exists.
• If the left and right hand limits do not exist or are not equal, then the limit
does not exist.

Example:

1
The lim can not be factored, however, graphically we
x2
x →0

can assess that,

1 1 1
lim+ 2 = lim− 2 = So lim 2 =
x →0 x x →0 x x →0 x

1
For lim , we can say from the graph that:
x →0 x

1 1 1
lim− = lim+ = So lim =
x →0 x x →0 x x →0 x

Example:
x−2
Evaluate the limit: lim
x →3 x −3

Since we can not directly substitute, there is no obvious algebraic method to use and
we do not have the graph we will use tables to find the limit.
x y x y
2.9 3.1 Conclusion:
2.99 3.01
2.999 3.001 lim f ( x ) =
x →3
2.9999 3.0001

lim f ( x ) = lim f ( x ) =
x →3− x →3+

Page 11 of 52
Practice
Evaluate:
x2 − 4 x
1. lim
x→4 x 2 − 3x − 4

x 2 + x − 12
2. lim
x →3 x+6

x −2
3. lim+
x→4 4− x

1 5 
4. lim  − 2 
x →0 x
 x + 5x 

Page 12 of 52
5. Find the following limits by simplifying algebraically if possible.
x2 −1 (3 + h) 2 − 9
a) lim b) lim
x →−1 x + 1 h →0 h

x2 − 2 x − 3 2 x 2 − 3x − 2
c) lim d) lim
x →3 x −3 x→2 x−2

x2 + x − 2 x2 −1
e) lim f) lim
x →1 x2 + 2x − 3 x →1 x −1

6. Assess the limits

x −1 −x
a) lim = b) lim =
x →−1 x + 1 x →3 ( x − 3) 2

Page 13 of 52
7. Using the table below, determine the left- and right-hand limits of the
piecewise function, as x → 0 .

 x + 1, x < 0
f ( x) = 
 x − 1, x > 0

x → 0− x → 0+ lim f ( x) =
x f ( x) x f ( x) x → 0−
−1 0 1 0
−0.1 0.9 0.1 −0.9
lim f ( x) =
x → 0+

y
4
3
2
1 x

−4 −3 −2 −1 1 2 3 4 5
−1
−2
−3
−4

Page 14 of 52
Limit as x goes to 0 x → 0

Consider the case where we want x → 0 and x only appears in the denominator of a
rational expression. In such a case we would basically have some number divided by
a “really small” positive/negative number. This will give a “really big”
positive/negative result. Since ‘really big’ occurs often in limit calculations we give it
the special symbol ∞ , called infinity. Don’t forget to check the left and right hand
limit.

1 1
Example: Evaluate (a) lim (b) lim 2 .
x →0 x x → 0 x
x 1 1
f(x) = 1/x

1 
9

lim− = −∞ 
7

x2
5

x x →0 x  THE limit
4


2

-0.1 -10 100 1 does not exist.

−1
−1
1 2

lim+ = +∞ 
−2

−3

−4

-0.01 -100 10000 x →0 x 

−5

−6

−7

−8

-0.001 -1000 1000000

−9

−10

-0.0001 -10000 100000000 1 

lim− = +∞ 
x →0 x
2
 1
14
f(x) = 1/x^2

 ⇒ lim =∞
13

12

11

1 x →0 x 2
10

0.0001 +10000 100000000 

9

lim 2 = +∞
8


6

0.001 +1000 1000000 x → 0+ x

5

0.01 +100 10000

1

−1 1 2

0.1 +10 100

Example: Sketch the graphs to assess the following limits.

7
a) lim
x →0 3 x 4

5x
b) lim
x →0 2 x 3

8
c) lim
x →0 2 x 3

−5
d) lim
x →0 x 6

1 −1
When n is even, lim = and lim =
x →0 xn x →0 xn

1 −1
When n is odd, lim = and lim =
x →0 xn x →0 x n

Page 15 of 52
Practice: Evaluate the following limits.

5
a) lim
x →0 x7

2
b) lim
x →0 x8

5x
c) lim
x →0 x 9

−2
d) lim
x →0 x11

−2
e) lim
x →0 x10

Page 16 of 52
Limit as x goes to infinity x → ∞

Consider the special case where x → ±∞ and, as above, x appears only in the
denominator of a rational expression. In such a case we would basically have some
number divided by a “really big” positive/negative number. This will of course give a
“really small” positive/negative result that, for large enough x will approach zero.

Example: Evaluate:
1 1
(a) lim (b) lim
x →∞ x x →∞ x 2

x 1 x 1
x x2
10 0.1 10 0.01
100 0.01 100 0.0001
1000 0.001 1000 0.000001
10000 0.0001 10000 0.00000001

In the above table of values you can see that the bigger we make x, the smaller we
make the fraction; the result approaches zero.

1
lim =0
x →∞ x n

To evaluate limits as x → ∞ algebraically where there are x terms in both the

numerator and denominator, the common practice is to:
1. Divide both the numerator and denominator by the highest power of x that
appears in the denominator
2. Simplify
1
3. Using lim n = 0 , take the limit of each term as x → ∞ .
x →∞ x

Complete the examples below using this method. Once completed we should see a
pattern that will help us answer these questions quickly.

Page 17 of 52
Example 7:
x2 + 1
a) lim
x →∞ 2 x 2 + 3

3 x8 + 2 x 3 − 3 x
b) lim
x →∞ 6 x7 + 9 x

x2 − 4
c) lim
x →∞ x − 2

5 x3 + x
d) lim
x →∞ x 5 − 4 x 4

x3 − 4
e) lim
x →∞ x + 3

Summary:
• If the highest degree in the numerator and denominator equal, you can use
the coefficients to determine the limit.
• If the highest degree in the numerator is larger than the highest degree of the
denominator, the limit will be infinity.
• If the highest degree in the denominator is larger than the highest degree of
the numerator, the limit will be 0.

Page 18 of 52
Practice:
1. Find the following limits.
x2 + x b) lim(3 x − 2)
a) lim x →3
x →0 x

c) lim x 2 − 7 4 x2 − 8x
x→4 d) lim
x→2 x−2

x2 − 2 x − 3 x−4
e) lim f) lim
x →3 3− x x→4 x−4

3 x 2 + 4.5 x −1
g) lim h) lim
x →∞ x 2 − 1.5 x →∞ 7 x + 4

Page 19 of 52
 x +1 −1 x3 − 1
i) lim j) lim
x →0 x x →1 x −1

t 2 − 16 x2 + x − 6
k) lim l) lim
t →∞ t +1 x →−3 x+3

1 − 2x2
m) lim
x →∞ (4 x + 3) 2

ANS:
( 6 ) RHL = 1
(1) 1 ( 2 ) 7 ( 3) x ≥ 4, so only lim x2 − 7 = 3 ( 4) 8 ( 5) − 4
x→4+ LHL = −1
(11) 1, highest power
( 7 ) 3 (8) 1
7 (9) 1
2 , rationalize numerator (10 ) 3 of x is 1, which becomes (12 ) − 5
2 under the radical
(13) −1
8

Page 20 of 52
2. Find the points of discontinuity of the function (i.e., find domain values
that must be omitted),

x 2 + 2 x + 17
f ( x) =
x2 −1

3. Find the following limits:

x 2 − x − 12 b) lim ( x 2 − 2 x − 3) −2 x + 3 x5 + 11
a) lim x →−1 c) lim
x →−3 x+3 x →∞ 7 − 2 x 6 − 4 x 4

3x3 − x e) lim ( x − 3) 2 x 2 − 3x − 2
d) lim x →7 f) lim
x →0 7x x→2 x−2

g) lim
1 h) lim ( x 2 − 7 ) x2 − 4
x→4 i) lim
x→2 x−2 x→2 x − 2

4. Show that the following limit does not exist as x → 2 ,

4 x − 16 x + 18, x < 2
2

f ( x) = 
2 ( x + 1) , x>2

Page 21 of 52
5. Use the graph of f ( x ) to find the limits.

a) lim f ( x ) = b) lim f ( x ) = c) lim f ( x ) =

x →−∞ x →∞ x →0

d) lim f ( x ) = e) lim f ( x ) = f) lim f ( x ) =

x →−2 x →8 x →13

Page 22 of 52
The Derivative
Slope of a Straight Line

We know that the slope of a line is calculated between two points on the line

We can find the slope graphically using

rise over run (always go left to right).

Or we calculate it using two points:

∆y y2 − y1
Slope = =
∆x x2 − x1

The slope between two points on a curved graph is called the Secant Line

We can find the slope of this line:

And, we can find the equation of the Secant line:

Point-Slope Form Slope-Intercept Form
y − y1 = m ( x − x1 ) y = mx + b

The secant is also called the Average Slope of the curve between the two x values.
∆y
Average Slope =
∆x

Page 23 of 52
Example:
Find the average slope (slope of the secant line) between x = 1 and x = 2 for the
function f ( x ) = x 2 − 6 x + 8 .

Find the equation of the secant line:

Example:
1
For the curve y = x3 − x + 1 , find the average slope between x = 1 and x = 2 .
2

Find the equation of this secant line

Page 24 of 52
Practice

1. Calculate the average slope of the graph below between x = 2 and x = 4 .

2. For the two lines in the graph:

a. Calculate the slope

b. Find the equation of each line.

Page 25 of 52
The actual slope of a curve is represented by a Tangent Line.

Graphically the Tangent Line:

a) is the slope of the curve at one point
b) touches the curve at only that point

Algebraically the Tangent Line is much more difficult to define and will be the focus
of this unit.

Page 26 of 52
The Tangent Line

We need 2 points to calculate slope. Since the tangent line only touches at 1 point,
we can use the secant line to approximate the tangent line:

We can shrink the distance But this would be

between the two points until dividing by zero!
∆x = 0 .

However, using limits we can see what happens:

f ( x + ∆x) − f ( x)
Slope of the Tangent Line: lim
∆x → 0 ∆x

Page 27 of 52
The Delta Process – Definition of the Derivative

Previously we used limits to find the slope of the tangent at a particular value of x .
Algebraically, it is more useful to know the slope at any value of x . In this case, we
leave x in the equation and solve.
f ( x + ∆x ) − f ( x )
For f ( x) = x 2 , m tangent = lim
∆x → 0 ∆x

This is a function that gives us the slope of the tangent line at any x .
x=0 x =1 x = −1

Definition: The derivative of a function expressed as a function is

f ( x + ∆x ) − f ( x ) f ( x + h) − f ( x)
f ' ( x ) = lim OR f ' ( x ) = lim
∆x → 0 ∆x h →0 h

It is read “The derivative of f with respect to x” or “ f -prime of x”.

Derivative Notation

Some common notations for the derivative of y = f ( x) are:

y' Dx y f '( x) dy
dx

The process of finding a derivative is called differentiation.

Remember: At a point ( x, y ) on a curve,

The slope of the The slope of the The derivative

curve = tangent line =

Page 28 of 52
Example:
Find the function for the slope of the following functions using the definition of the
derivative.
a) f ( x) = 5 x 2 − 1 b) f ( x) = 2 x 2 + 3 x

Example: Find the derivative of f ( x) = −4( x − 2) 2 + 4 using the definition

f ( x + ∆x ) − f ( x )
f ' ( x ) = lim
∆x → 0 ∆x

What is the slope at

x =1 ? x = 2? x=3 ?

Page 29 of 52
Practice
Find the derivative of the following functions by the delta-process.

a) y = −4 x + 2

b) y = 6 x − 2 x 2

c) y = x2 + 5x − 2

As you can see from above, using the delta-process can be very tedious and time-
consuming. Starting with the delta-process and some general type functions we can
develop some simple rules that will help us to solve for the derivative quickly and
easily.

Page 30 of 52
Power Rule
For a variable raised to a constant power n,

dx( )
d n
x = nx n −1

Example: Find the following derivatives:

a) y = x3 b) f ( x) = x8 c) y = x d) f ( x) = x 2

Constant Multiple Rule

For a constant a,
d
dx ( )
ax n = a ( nx n −1 )

Example: Find the derivative of each of the following:

1 x4
(a) y = 3 x5 (b) y = −6 x3 (c) y = x9 (d) f ( x ) =
3 8

Page 32 of 52
Sum & Difference Rule
d
For any number of terms, ( f ( x) + g ( x) ) = f ' ( x ) + g ' ( x )
dx

Example: Find the derivative of each of the following:

(a) y = 3 x5 + 7 x3 − 3 x + 2 (b) y = −6 x3 − 5 x

Often we need to rewrite a power to use the rule:

Example: Find the derivative of each of the following:

1
(a) y = x (b) f ( x) = (c) y = x 3 x
x

x x 2 − 3x
(d) y = (e) y =
x x2

Page 33 of 52
Example: Find the derivative of each of the following:

(a) y = x 2 + 7 x (b) y = x 4 + 3 x 3 + x 2 − x + 2

2
(c) y = 2 x − 4 x 3 (d) y =
x2

Example: Find the slope of the curve at the indicated point:

(a) y = 9 x − x 3 at the point (2,10) .

1
(b) y = x 4 − x 2 + 2 at the point (−2,16) .
2

(c) y = 4 3 x 2 at the point where x = 8 .

x − x2
(d) y = at x = 4 .
x

Page 34 of 52
 Practice
1. Using the definition of derivative find f ' ( x ) of the following,
f ( x) = x 2 − 2 x

2. Find the derivative of each of the following,

1 (b) f ( x) = 7 x3 − 3 x 2 + 13
(a) f ( x) = 3 x − x3
3

π 4
(c) f ( x) = x8 (d) f ( x) = 5 x 2 −
2 x

3. What is the slope of the function f ( x) = 3 x3 + 4 x 2 − 6 x + 3 at the point

( −2, 7 ) ?

Page 35 of 52
Product Rule f ( x) g ( x )

For f ( x) = 4 x 3 and g ( x) = 2 x 5

f '( x) = g '( x) =

For two functions multiplied together,

we take the derivative one part at a time:

y = ( 4 x 3 )( 2 x5 )

Simplify First (if practical) Using Product Rule

y= dy
=
dx

dy
=
dx

With more complicated functions, it would take us much longer to multiply and use
the power rule. The product rule will be faster

Product Rule
When we have two functions multiplied together,
d
dx
( f ( x) g ( x ) ) = f ' ( x ) g ( x ) + f ( x ) g ' ( x )

Page 36 of 52
Example: Find the derivative of y = ( 2 x 2 )( 3 x3 ) .

Example: Find the derivative of y = ( 2 x3 + 3 x )( x 4 + 2 x 2 − 6 ) (Do not simplify)

Example: Find the slope of the tangent to the curve y = ( 3 x 2 − 5 )( 2 x 2 − 1) at x = −1

Page 37 of 52
Practice:
1. Find the derivative of each of the following. (Simplify the result)

(a) y = 2 x3 ( 3 x 4 + x ) (b) y = ( 3 x − 2 ) ( 4 x 2 + 3)

2. What is the derivative of the function y = ( 2 x5 − 6 x + π )( −5 x 2 + e − 3 x 7 ) ?

(Apply the rule, you do not need to simplify the final answer)

dy
3. Given y = ( 2 x − 3 x3 )( 4 + 5 x −2 ) , what is ? Simplify the result.
dx

4. What is the slope of the curve representing the function

f ( x) = ( 5 x 3 − 6 x 2 )( 5 x 3 − 6 x 2 ) at the point ( −1,121) ?

Page 38 of 52
 f ( x)
Quotient Rule g( x)

Again for the quotient rule, we find that taking the derivative all at once will not
work.

For f ( x) = 4 x 3 and g ( x) = 2 x 5

f '( x) = g '( x) =

For two functions that divide each other,

we take the derivative one part at a time

4 x3
y=
2 x5

Simplify First (if possible) Using Quotient Rule

y= dy
=
dx

dy
=
dx

Quotient Rule
When we have two functions dividing each other,

d  f ( x)  f ' ( x ) g ( x ) − f ( x ) g ' ( x )
 =
dx  g ( x )  ( g ( x ))
2

Page 39 of 52
 3 − 2x
Example: Find the derivative of y = .
x2 + 2

2 x3
Example: Find the derivative of y = .
4− x

Example: Find the slope of the curve y=

( 3x 2
− 5)
at x = −1
(2x 2
− 1)

Page 40 of 52
Practice:
1. Find the derivative of each of the following.
4 e2
a) y = 3 b) y = 2
x 5x + 4 x

2x
2. Find the derivative of the function q ( x) = 6 x 2 +
without getting a
x +1
common denominator? (Apply the rule for polynomials and the quotient rule
when required)

5x4 + 6 x
3. Given y = , what is Dx y ?
5x − 4

2 x 2 + 3x
4. What is the slope of the curve representing the function P ( x ) = at
5 − 3x
the point (2, −14) ?

Page 41 of 52
Chain Rule  f ( g ( x ) ) 

In MA1101 we learned about Composite Functions like f ( g ( x ) )

For f ( x) = x 3 and g ( x) = x 2 + 1 we could, expand, and take the derivative

Expanding is not always practical, sometimes we need the chain rule.

y = f ( g ( x)) = ( x 2 + 1)
3

dy
=
dx

Chain Rule
When we have a composite function,
d
 f ( g ( x ) ) = f '( g ( x )) g '( x )
dx 

Page 42 of 52
Example:
Find the derivative of the following functions:

a) y = ( x 2 + 4 x + 6 )
5

f ( x ) = ( x 2 − x + 1)
3
b)

c) f ( x ) = 5x + x2

1
d) y =
(x − 5)
2 4

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Practice:
1. Find the derivative of each of the following.
1 b) y = 5 3 x + 2
a) r =
( t 2 − 2t − 5)
4

4
2. Find the slope of the tangent line to the curve y = ( 4 + 3 x 2 ) 3 .

3. For y = ( 4 − x 2 )
−2

What is the slope of the graph of at the point ( 3, 251 ) ?

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4. Find the derivative of the function q ( x) = ( 4 x 2 − 3 + 6 x ) .
18

5. Given f ( g ( x ) ) = ( x 2 + 1) + 2 ( x 2 + 1) + 5 , what is Dx f ( g ( x ) ) ?
3 2

6. What is the slope of the curve representing the function

P ( x) = (x + 7 x ) at the point (14, 71) ?
2 3
4

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Implicit Differentiation

There will be times when we are not able to solve for y explicitly. For example,
given the expression,
y 5 + xy 2 + 3 x 2 = 5 ,
we are unable to get an expression y = f ( x ) .

Such a function where y is defined implicitly as a function of x (i.e., y as a function

of itself, which is a function of x ) is called an implicit function.

dy
To find when y is implicitly defined as function of x , we differentiate each term
dx
of the equation with respect to x by applying the appropriate rule.

dy
Note: The derivative of y with respect to x is (or y ' ).
dx

dy
Example: Find if x + y = 2 .
dx

dy
Example: Find if y 2 + 2 x 2 = 5 .
dx

dy
Example: Find if 3 y 4 + xy 2 + 2 x3 − 6 = 0 .
dx

Example: Find the slope of a line tangent to the curve of 2 y 3 + xy + 1 = 0 at the point
(−3,1) .

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Mixed Derivatives

So far we have focused on the power rule, the product and quotient rules, and the
chain rule of differentiation. In practice, finding a derivative will often involve
applying some combination of the above rules. Here we will look a few examples.

Example: Find the derivative of the following functions:

3
 x3 + 2 x 2 
a) f ( x) =  
 4− x 

(( x − 7 x )(14 + x ))
11
b) f ( x) = 3 2

a. In this case the overall function form is again a composite

( )
function. However, the g ( x ) in f g ( x ) is a product. To find
g ' ( x ) we will have to apply the product rule.

(8x − 4 + 9 x )  3x + 4 x
3 2 5
−
1

x3 
c) f ( x) =
(x −9+ x ) 5

2
 x5 − x3 
Example: Find the slope of y =  3  ( 2 x ) at x = 1 .
2 3

 x 

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Higher Derivatives

Since the derivative of a function is also a function we may take the derivative of the
derivative.

The derivative of a function is called the first derivative.

The derivative of the first derivative is the second derivative, and so on.

The second derivative, third derivative and so on are collectively known as higher
derivatives.

Higher Derivative Notation

First Second Third Fourth

y' y '' y ''' y (4)
dy d2y d3y d4y
dx dx 2 dx3 dx 4
Dx y Dx2 y Dx3 y Dx4 y
f '( x) f ''( x) f '''( x) f (4) ( x)

Example: Find the higher derivatives for y = 5 x3 − 2 x .

Example: Find the higher derivatives of f ( x) = x( x 2 − 1) 2 (Hint: Simplify f ' )

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 2
Example: Evaluate the second derivative of y = for x = −2 .
1− x

Example: Find y '' for the implicit function defined by 2 x 2 + 3 y 2 = 6 .

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Practice:

2x2 + 1
1. Find Dx y given y = .
3x

2. Given xy 3 + 3 y + x 2 = 9 , find y '

3. Evaluate the second derivative of y = x (1 − x ) , for x = 2 .

5

( )
4
4. Find the derivative of the function K ( p ) = 3 p 2 + p p 3 + 2 p (Do not
simplify).

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5. Given ( y 2 + 2 ) = π x 4 y + 3e 2 y 3 , what is Dx y ?
3

2
6. What is the second derivative of the function P ( x ) = x − at the
x3
point (4, 127
32 ) ?

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Variables other than x

While most of our work has focused on the functions of x , the same rules of
derivatives apply to any variables.

Practice:

1. Find the derivative of A with respect to t : A = 3t 2 − 5t

2. Find the derivative of z with respect to r : 4r 3 − 3r 2 z = 5 z

3. Find the derivative of P with respect to V : P = ( 4V − 5 ) ( −3V 2 + 2 )

3

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