Calc 5

Related Rates – In this section we will discuss the only application of

derivatives in this section, Related Rates. In related rates problems we are
give the rate of change of one quantity in a problem and asked to determine
the rate of one (or more) quantities in the problem. This is often one of the
more difficult sections for students. We work quite a few problems in this
section so hopefully by the end of this section you will get a decent
understanding on how these problems work.
Higher Order Derivatives – In this section we define the concept of higher
order derivatives and give a quick application of the second order derivative
and show how implicit differentiation works for higher order derivatives.
Logarithmic Differentiation – In this section we will discuss logarithmic
differentiation. Logarithmic differentiation gives an alternative method for
differentiating products and quotients (sometimes easier than using product
and quotient rule). More importantly, however, is the fact that logarithm
differentiation allows us to differentiate functions that are in the form of one
function raised to another function, i.e. there are variables in both the base
and exponent of the function.

Applications of Derivatives - In this chapter we will cover many of the

major applications of derivatives. Applications included are determining
absolute and relative minimum and maximum function values (both with and
without constraints), sketching the graph of a function without using a
computational aid, determining the Linear Approximation of a function,
L’Hospital’s Rule (allowing us to compute some limits we could not prior to
this), Newton's Method (allowing us to approximate solutions to equations)
as well as a few basic Business applications.

Rates of Change – In this section we review the main

application/interpretation of derivatives from the previous chapter (i.e. rates
of change) that we will be using in many of the applications in this chapter.
Critical Points – In this section we give the definition of critical points.
Critical points will show up in most of the sections in this chapter, so it will be
important to understand them and how to find them. We will work a number
of examples illustrating how to find them for a wide variety of functions.
Minimum and Maximum Values – In this section we define absolute (or
global) minimum and maximum values of a function and relative (or local)
minimum and maximum values of a function. It is important to understand
the difference between the two types of minimum/maximum (collectively
called extrema) values for many of the applications in this chapter and so we
use a variety of examples to help with this. We also give the Extreme Value
Theorem and Fermat's Theorem, both of which are very important in the
many of the applications we'll see in this chapter.
Finding Absolute Extrema – In this section we discuss how to find the
absolute (or global) minimum and maximum values of a function. In other
words, we will be finding the largest and smallest values that a function will
have.
The Shape of a Graph, Part I – In this section we will discuss what the first
derivative of a function can tell us about the graph of a function. The first
derivative will allow us to identify the relative (or local) minimum and
maximum values of a function and where a function will be increasing and
decreasing. We will also give the First Derivative test which will allow us to
classify critical points as relative minimums, relative maximums or neither a
minimum or a maximum.
The Shape of a Graph, Part II – In this section we will discuss what the
second derivative of a function can tell us about the graph of a function. The
second derivative will allow us to determine where the graph of a function is
concave up and concave down. The second derivative will also allow us to
identify any inflection points (i.e. where concavity changes) that a function
may have. We will also give the Second Derivative Test that will give an
alternative method for identifying some critical points (but not all) as relative
minimums or relative maximums.
The Mean Value Theorem – In this section we will give Rolle's Theorem
and the Mean Value Theorem. With the Mean Value Theorem we will prove a
couple of very nice facts, one of which will be very useful in the next chapter.
Optimization Problems – In this section we will be determining the
absolute minimum and/or maximum of a function that depends on two
variables given some constraint, or relationship, that the two variables must
always satisfy. We will discuss several methods for determining the absolute
minimum or maximum of the function. Examples in this section tend to
center around geometric objects such as squares, boxes, cylinders, etc.
More Optimization Problems – In this section we will continue working
optimization problems. The examples in this section tend to be a little more
involved and will often involve situations that will be more easily described
with a sketch as opposed to the 'simple' geometric objects we looked at in
the previous section.
L’Hospital’s Rule and Indeterminate Forms – In this section we will
revisit indeterminate forms and limits and take a look at L’Hospital’s Rule.
L’Hospital’s Rule will allow us to evaluate some limits we were not able to
previously.
Linear Approximations – In this section we discuss using the derivative to
compute a linear approximation to a function. We can use the linear
approximation to a function to approximate values of the function at certain
points. While it might not seem like a useful thing to do with when we have
the function there really are reasons that one might want to do this. We give
two ways this can be useful in the examples.
Differentials – In this section we will compute the differential for a function.
We will give an application of differentials in this section. However, one of the
more important uses of differentials will come in the next chapter and
unfortunately we will not be able to discuss it until then.
Newton’s Method – In this section we will discuss Newton's Method.
Newton's Method is an application of derivatives that will allow us to
approximate solutions to an equation. There are many equations that cannot
be solved directly and with this method we can get approximations to the
solutions to many of those equations.
Business Applications – In this section we will give a cursory discussion of
some basic applications of derivatives to the business field. We will revisit
finding the maximum and/or minimum function value and we will define the
marginal cost function, the average cost, the revenue function, the marginal
revenue function and the marginal profit function. Note that this section is
only intended to introduce these concepts and not teach you everything
about them.