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Math 135 Business Calculus Spring 2009Class Notes
1.4 Di
ff 
erentiation Using Limits of Di
ff 
erence Quotients
In the previous section, we saw that a secant line joining the points
°
x,f 
(
x
)
¢
and
°
x
+
h,f 
(
x
+
h
)
¢
onthe graph of a function
y
=
f 
(
x
) has slope
m
secant
=
f 
(
x
+
h
)
−
f 
(
x
)
h.
This di
ff 
erence quotient also represents the average rate of change of 
f 
(
x
) over the interval [
x,x
+
h
].In this section, we’ll see that by taking the limit of this di
ff 
erence quotient as
h
→
0, we obtainthe slope of the tangent line to the graph or the instantaneous rate of change of 
f 
(
x
) at
x
.
TANGENT LINES
A tangent to a curve is sometimes described as a line that touches the curve in exactly one point. Fora circle, results from geometry tell us that a tangent line to a point on the circle is perpendicular to aradius intersecting the circle at that point, as shown in the figure below on the left.
P L
L M 
For more complicated curves, the above description is inadequate. The above figure on the rightdisplays two lines
L
and
M 
passing through a point
P 
on a curve. The line
M 
intersects only once,but it certainly does not look like what is thought of as a tangent. In contrast, the line
L
looks like atangent, but it intersects twice.In order to define what we mean by the tangent line and in order to determine the tangent line,we need to use a limiting process. Suppose we have a function
y
=
f 
(
x
) and we want to determine thetangent line at a point
P 
on the curve. We start by drawing a secant line to the curve passing through
P 
and another point
Q
on the curve. The secant line provides an approximation to the tangent line.The closer the point
Q
is to the point
P 
, the better the secant line will approximate the tangent line.
 f 
(
 x
)
SecantlineTangentline
 x
P(x, f 
(
 x
))
 y
Q
(
 x
+
h
,
 f 
(
 x
+
h
))
 f 
(
 x
)(
 x
+
h
)
 f 
(
 x
)Secant linesTangent line
 x
P
 yQ
1
Q
2
Q
3
 
Q
4
By letting the point
Q
slide down the curve towards
P 
, the corresponding secant lines will rotate aboutthe point
P 
. The tangent line will be the limiting position of the secant lines as
Q
approaches
P 
.
15
 
16
Chapter 1
Di 
ff  
erentiation
The slope of the secant line
PQ
is given by
m
secant
=
f 
(
x
+
h
)
−
f 
(
x
)
h.
As the point
Q
slides down the curve towards
P 
, then the
x
-values
x
+
h
approach
x
, so
h
approaches 0.
DEFINITION OF SLOPE OF TANGENT LINE
The slope of the tangent line the graph of 
y
=
f 
(
x
) at the point
°
x,f 
(
x
)
¢
is
m
tangent
= lim
h
→
0
f 
(
x
+
h
)
−
f 
(
x
)
h.
This limit is also the
instantaneous rate of change
of 
f 
(
x
) at
x
.The limit in the above definition occurs so widely, it is given a special name and notation.
DEFINITION OF DERIVATIVE
For a function
y
=
f 
(
x
), its
derivative
at
x
is the function
f 
0
defined by
f 
0
(
x
) = lim
h
→
0
f 
(
x
+
h
)
−
f 
(
x
)
h
provided that the limit exists. If 
f 
0
(
x
) exists, then we say that
f 
is
di
ff 
erentiable
at
x
. The notation
f 
0
(
x
) is read “
f 
prime of 
x
.”
PROCEDURE FOR CALCULATING A DERIVATIVE
To calculate the derivative of a function
y
=
f 
(
x
):
1.
Write out the di
ff 
erence quotient:
f 
(
x
+
h
)
−
f 
(
x
)
h
2.
Simplify the di
ff 
erence quotient algebraically. After simplifying, the
h
in the denominator shouldcancel out.
3.
Compute the limit algebraically using the Limit Principles.
EXAMPLE
Let
f 
(
x
) =
x
2
. Find
f 
0
(
x
). Then find
f 
0
(
−
1) and
f 
0
(2). What do these represent onthe graph?
 –3 –2 –1 1 2 3
x
 –2 –112345
 y
 
1.4
Di 
ff  
erentiation Using Limits of Di 
ff  
erence Quotients 
17
EXAMPLE
Let
f 
(
x
) =
x
3
. Find
f 
0
(
x
). Then find
f 
0
(
−
1) and
f 
0
(1
.
5). Find the equation of thetangent line to the graph at
x
=
−
1.
 –3 –2 –1 1 2 3
 x
 –6 –5 –4 –3 –2 –1123456
 y
EXAMPLE
Let
f 
(
x
) = 3
/x
. Find
f 
0
(
x
). Then find
f 
0
(2) and the equation of the tangent line to thegraph at
x
= 2.
 –5 –4 –3 –2 –1 1 2 3 4 5
 x
 –5 –4 –3 –2 –112345
 y
of 00

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