Math 135 Business Calculus Spring 2009

Class Notes
1.8 Higher-Order Derivatives
Given a function y = f (x), its derivative f 0 (x) is itself a function. This means we can take its derivative.
The derivative of the derivative is called the second derivative of the function and is denoted
d2 y
f 00 (x) in Newton’s notation or in Leibniz’ notation
dx2
We can then take the derivative of the second derivative to obtain the third derivative, denoted
d3 y
f 000 (x) in Newton’s notation or in Leibniz’ notation
dx3
We can keep taking derivatives to obtain the fourth derivative, the fifth derivative, and so on. Past the
third derivative, we usually use a superscript in parentheses instead of listing primes.
d4 y
f (4) (x) =
dx4
d5 y
f (5) (x) = 5
dx
..
.
EXAMPLE Let f (x) = x4 + 2x3 . Find f 0 (x), f 00 (x), f 000 (x), and f (4) (x).

EXAMPLE Let y = 1/x. Find dy/dx, d2 y/dx2 , and d3 y/dx3 .

33
34 Chapter 1 Differentiation

VELOCITY AND ACCELERATION

Suppose the function s(t) represents the distance traveled by an object as a function of time t. Then
the derivative s0 (t) is the instantaneous rate of change of the distance, which is the velocity of the
object as a function of time.
The rate of change of the velocity with respect to time is called the acceleration. The acceleration
measures how the velocity is changing with time, so it measures how fast the object is speeding up (for
positive acceleration) or slowing down (for negative acceleration).
Since the instantaneous acceleration is the derivative of the velocity, which is the derivative of the
position function s(t), then the acceleration is the second derivative of the position function.

DEFINITION OF VELOCITY AND ACCELERATION

The velocity of a moving object whose position at time t is s(t) is given by
ds
Velocity = v(t) = s0 (t) = .
dt
The acceleration is given by
Acceleration = a(t) = v 0 (t) = s00 (t).

EXAMPLE When an object is dropped, the distance it falls in t seconds, assuming that air resistance
is negligible, is given by
s(t) = 16t2 ,
where s(t) is in feet. If a stone is dropped from a cliff, find each of the following.
a) How far it has traveled 5 seconds after being dropped.

b) How fast it is traveling 5 seconds after being dropped.

c) The stone’s acceleration after it has been falling for 5 seconds.