THEOREMS OF DIFFERENTATIONS

Theorem 1: Constant Rule

If f ( x )=5 is a horizontal line with a slope of zero, thus its derivative is also zero.
So for any number c, if f ' ( x )=0
Examples:

a. b. c.

Theorem 2: Power Rule

The power rule in calculus is a fairly simple rule that helps you find the derivative
1
of a variable raised to a power, such as x 5 ,2 x 8 , 3 x−3 ,∨5 x 2 .

All you do is take the exponent, multiply it by the coefficient, and decrease the
exponent by 1.
¿

Examples:
a. b. c.

Theorem 3: Sum Rule

The sum rule for derivatives states that the derivative of a sum is equal to the sum
of the derivatives.
If f ( x )=g ( x )+ h ( x )

f ' ( x )=g' ( x ) +h ' ( x )

Examples:
b. b.
Theorem 4: Product Rule
If the two functions f ( x ) and g ( x ) are differentiable ( i.e. the derivative exists ) then
the product is differentiable and ( fg)' =f g '
Examples:

a. f ( x )=( 6 x3 −x ) ( 10−20 x )
f ' ( x )=( 1 8 x 2−1 ) (10−20 x )+ ( 6 x3 −x ) (−20 )

¿ 48 0 x 3 +18 0 x2 + 40 x−10
2
b. 3
f ( x )= √ x ( 2 x−x )=x ( 2 x−x 2 )
2 2 3

2
2 1
f ' ( x )= x− ( 2 x−x2 ) + x 3 ( 2−2 x )
3 3
−1 5 2 5
4 3 2 3
¿ x − x +2 x 3 −2 x 3
3 3
2 5
10 3 8 3
¿ x − x
3 3

Theorem 5:
If the two functions f ( x ) and g ( x ) are differentiable ( i.e. the derivatives exists )
f ' f ' g−fg '
then the quotient is differentiable and g =
g2
. ()
Examples:
3 z+ 9
a. w ( x )=
2−z
( 2−z ) (3 )−( 3 z+ 9 ) (−1 )
w ' ( x )=
¿¿

b. h ( x )= 4 ❑
√❑

−1 1
1
( 4 x 2
) ( x 2−2 )−( 4 x 2 )( 2 x ) 3 −1 3 3 1
2 2
2 x −4 x −8 x2 2 2
−6 x −4 x 2
h' ( x ) = 2
= 2
= 2
2 2
( x −2 ) ( x −2 ) ( x 2−2 )

Theorem 6: Chain Rule

Suppose that we have two functions f ( x ) and g ( x ) and they are both differentiable.
1. If we define F ( x )=(g∙ f )(x ) then the derivative of F (x) is,
F ' ( x )=f ' ( g ( x ) ) ∙ g' ( x)

dy dy du
2. If we have y=f ( u )∧u=g ( x ) , then the derivative of y is, dx = du dx

Example:
a. f ( x )=¿
f ' ( x )=2 ¿

¿ ( 12 x2 +14 x ) ( 12 x +7 )

¿ 24 x 3 +84 x 2 +168 x 2 +98

¿ 24 x 3 +252 x 2 +98

DERIVATIVE OF TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS

Recall the basic trigonometric functions:
sin sin ( x ) , cos cos ( x ) , tan tan ( x ) , csc csc ( x ) , sec sec ( x ) , cot cot ( x ) . All these functions are
continuous and differentiable in their domains.
Below we make a list of derivatives fore these functions:
a. D x (sin sin x )=cos cos ( x ) D x (x )
b . Dx ( cosx )=−sin sin ( x ) Dx ( x )

cosx ( cosx ) −sinx (−sinx )

( ta n' x )= sinx =
( cosx ) 2
cos x

cos2 x+ sin2 x 1 2
¿ 2
= 2 =sec x
cos x cos x

c. D x ( tanx )=−sin sin ( x ) Dx ( x )

¿
cosx 1 cosx
¿− = × =−csc csc ( x ) cot ⁡( x )
sin x sin sinx
2

d . D x ( cscx )=−csc csc ( x ) cot cot ( x ) Dx ( x )

¿
sinx 1 sinx
¿ = × =sex ( x ) tan tan ( x )
cos x cosx cosx
2

e. D x ( secx )=sec sec ( x ) tan tan ( x ) D x ( x )

'
(−sinx ) ( sinx )−( cosx ) ( cosx )
( cotx )' = cosx =
( )
sinx sin 2 x

sin 2 x +cos 2 x −1 2
¿− 2
= 2 =−csc x
sin x sin x

2
f. D x ( cotx )=−cs c ( x ) D x ( x )

IMPLICIT DIFFERENTIATION
Is nothing more than a special case of the well-known chain rule for derivatives. The majority of
differentiation problems in first year calculus involve function y written EXPLICITLY as functions of x .

Examples:

' dx
a. Assume that y is a function of x . Find y = for y=x 2 y 3+ x3 y 2 .
dy
Solution:

Begin with y=x 2 y 3+ x3 y 3 . Differentiate both sides of the equation, getting

D ( y )=D ( x 2 y 3 + x 3 y 2 ),

D ( y )=D ( x 2 y 3 ) + D ( x 3 y 2 ) ,

D ( y )=[ x 2 D ( y 3 ) + D ( x 2 ) y3 ]+ [ x3 D ( y 3 )( y 2 ) ] ,

( y )= [ x 2 ( 3 y 2 y ' ) + ( 2 x ) y 3 ] + [ x 3 D ( y 3 ) y 2 ] ,

y ' =3 x 2 y 2 y ' +2 x y 3 +2 x 3 y y ' + 3 x 2 y 2 ,

y ' −3 x 2 y 2 y ' −2 x 3 y y ' =2 x y3 +3 x 2 y 2 ,

y ' [ 1−3 x 2 y 2−2 x3 y ] =2 x y 3 +3 x 2 y 2

' 2 x y 3+3 x 2 y 3
y=
1−3 x 2 y 2−2 x 3 y
b. If f ( x )=3 x 2−5 x ,find f ' ( 2 ) u sinsin gthe definition of the derivative and use it to find the
equation of the tangent line to their parabola y=3 x 2−5 x at the point (2 , 2)

dy lim f ( x +h ) −f ( x )
M → DN = dy '
dx =f ( x )= h →0
dx h
f ( 2+h )−f ( 2 )
f ' ( 2 )=
h

lim 3 h2+7 h+2−2

f ( 2 )= h→ 0
'
h

lim 3 h2+7 h
f ' ( 2 )= h→ 0
h

f ' ( 2 )=lim 3 h+7

h →0

¿ 3 ( 0 ) +7

f ' ( 2 )=M → DN =7

2
f ( 2+ h )=3 ( 2+h ) −5 ( 2+h )

¿ 3 ( 4 +4 h+h2 ) −( 10+5 h )

¿ 12+12 h+3 h2−( 10+5 h )

 ¿ 3 h2 +7 h+2

f ( 2 ) =3 ( 22−52 )
¿ 12−10
¿2

(2 , 2)
y− y1 =m ( x−x 1 )

y−2=7 x−14
y=7 x−12

3
c. y=1−3 u ,u=( 5 x 7−3 x 3+ 2 x−1 )
dy dy du
= ×
dx du dx
dy 2
=−3 [ 3 ( 5 x 7−3 x5 +2 x−1 ) ( 35 x6 −15 x 4 +2 ) ]
dx
dy 2
=−9 ( 5 x 7−3 x 5+ 2 x−1 ) ( 35 x 6−15 x 4 +2 )
dx

dy'
d.Find y = for x=3+ √ ❑
dx
Solution: x=3+ √❑
1
1= ¿
2
1
(2 x ∙ 2 y y' )
2
1=
√❑
√❑

y y ' =√❑

y ' = √❑
❑
 GEOMETRIC INTERPRETATION OF A DERIVATIVE

Tangent and Normal Lines

One fundamental interpretation of the derivative of a function is that it is the slope of the
tangent line to the graph of the function.
The precise statement of these fundamental ideas is as follows. Let f be a function. For each
fixed value x 0 of the input to f, the value f ‘( x 0) of the derivative f ‘ of f evaluated at x 0 is the
slope of the tangent line to the graph of f at the particular point ( x 0, f( x 0)) on the graph.
Recall the point-slope form of a line with slope m through a point ( x 0 , y 0 ):

y− y 0=m(x−x 0)

In the present context, the slope is f ‘( x 0) and the point is ( x 0, f( x 0)), so the equation of the
tangent line to the graph of f at ( x 0, f( x 0)) is

y−f ( x o )=f ( x o )(x−x o)

The normal line to a curve at a particular point is the line through that point and
perpendicular to the tangent. A person might remember from analytic geometry that the
slope of any line perpendicular to a line with slope m is the negative reciprocal -1/m. Thus,
just changing this aspect of the equation for the tangent line. We can say generally that the
equation of the normal line to the graph of f at ( x o , f ( x o )¿ is

−1
y−f ( x o )= ( x−x o )
f ' ( xo )

The main conceptual hazard is to mistakenly name the fixed point ‘x’, as well as naming the
variable coordinate on the tangent line ‘x’. This causes a person to write down some
equation which, whatever it may be, is not the equation of a line at all. Another popular
boo-boo is to forget the subtraction −f (x o) on the left-hand side. Don’t do it.

The derivative of a function f (x) at a given point is the slope of the tangent to f (x) at the
point α.
The straight line forms a certain angle that we call β.
Obviously, this angle will be related to the slope of the straight line, which we have said to
be the value of the derivative at the given point.
So, we have

tanβ =f '( α )

Related rates
A "related rates'' problem is a problem in which we know
one of the rates of change at a given instant—say, x’=dx/dt
—and we want to find the other rate y’=dy/dt at that
instant.

If y is written in terms of x, i.e., y=f(x), then this is easy to

do using the chain rule:
dy dy dx dy
y '= = ⋅ = x'
dt dx dt dx

That is, find the derivative of f(x), plug in the value of x at

the instant in question, and multiply by the given value of
x’=dx/dt to get y’=dy/dt.

Example 1. A plane is flying

directly away from you at 500
mph at an altitude of 3 miles. How
fast is the plane's distance from
you increasing at the moment
when the plane is flying over a
point on the ground 4 miles from
you?

Because the plane is in level flight directly away from you,

the rate at which
x changes is the speed of the plane, dx/dt=500. The distance
between you and the plane²is
y; it is dy/dt that we wish to know. By the Pythagorean
Theorem we know that
x²+9=y². Taking the derivative:

2xx’ = 2yy’
We are interested in the time at which x=4; at this time we
know that 4²+9=y2, so
y=5. Putting together all the information we get

2 ( 4 ) ( 500 ) = 2 ( 5 ) y’
Thus, y’ = 400 mph

Example 2 A ladder 13 feet long leans against a wall. The top

of the ladder slides down at a constant rate of 12ft sec. Find
the velocity of the ladder when h =
15 ft .

By the Pythagorean equation:

x ² + h ² = 13² . Differentiate
both sides with respect to time t.

Substitute the known values:

dh ft
dt
= - 12 sec
(the minus sign denotes that the ladder is sliding down),
h = 15 ft

dx h dh 5 ft
dt
= √ ❑ dt
= - √5❑ = 12 ( 12 ) = 5 sec .

Example 3.
A car is moving at 60 miles per hour along a
straight road passes under a weather balloon rising
vertically at 20 miles per hour. If the balloon is 1 mile up
when the bus is directly below it, how fast is the distance
between the bus and the balloon increasing 1 minute
later?

db
=60 miles ⁄ hr=1 miles ⁄ min
dt

db
=20 miles ⁄ hr=20 miles ⁄ min
dt
dz 20 4
Find : dt , when h = 1 + 60 = 3 miles; b = 1mile

h ²−b ²=z ²

dh db dz
2h +2 b =2 z
dt dt dt

dh db dz
h + b =z
dt dt dt
 4 20 miles 1 mile
( miles)( )+(1 mile)( )
dz 3 60 min min
= miles
dt 5
miles
3
dz 13 miles
=
dt 15 min

dz 13 miles 60min 52 miles

= × =
dt 15 min 1 hr hr