AQA Core 4 Differentiation and integration

Section 1: Implicit differentiation

Notes and Examples
These notes contain subsections on
Differentiating functions of y with respect to x
Differentiating implicit functions
Differentiating products of x and y
Logarithmic differentiation (extension work)

Differentiating functions of y with respect to x

Suppose that y is a function of x, say x 2 . You can differentiate y to get 2x; but
what about differentiating y 2 , or sin y or ln y ? You could convert them to
functions of x, i.e. x4 , sin x2 or ln x2 ; but can you find the derivative of these
functions without converting into functions of x?
For example, suppose y x 2 as above and you want to find the derivative of
du
y with respect to x. Let u y 2 . You want to find
dx
du
u y2
2y
dy
dy
y x2
2x .
dx
Using the chain rule:
du du dy

dx dy dx
dy
2y
dx
2
2x 2x

4 x3

(which is indeed the derivative of x4)

The other functions of y can be differentiated in the same way:

To differentiate sin y with respect to x, let u sin y . You want to find

du
.
dx

du
cos y
dy
dy
y x2
2x
dx

u sin y

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AQ C4 Differentiation 1 Notes and Examples

Using the chain rule:
du du dy

dx dy dx
dy
cos y
dx
2 x cos y
To differentiate ln y with respect to x, let u ln y . You want to find

du
.
dx

du 1

dy y
dy
y x2
2x
dx
Using the chain rule:
du du dy

dx dy dx
1 dy

y dx
1
2 2x
x
2

x
u ln y

This idea can be generalised:

If y is a function of x, then d [f ( y)] df dy .
dx

dy dx

Differentiating implicit functions

An implicit function is an equation between two variables, say x and y, in
which y is not given explicitly as a function of x. The equation of a circle is an
example of an implicit function.
For example, x 2 y 2 25 is the equation of a circle, centre O and radius 5.
You can differentiate an implicit function like this by differentiating each side of
the equation with respect to x:

x 2 y 2 25

d 2
dy
, as before.
[y ] 2y
dx
dx

d 2
d
d
[ x ] [ y 2 ] [25]
dx
dx
dx
dy
2x 2 y 0
dx

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AQ C4 Differentiation 1 Notes and Examples

You can now find
2x 2 y

dy
in terms of x and y by rearranging this equation:
dx

dy
0
dx

dy
2 x
dx
dy
2x
x

dx
2y
y

2y

This result enables you, for example, to find the gradient at the point (3, 4) of
the circle. Here, x = 3 and y = 4, so dy x 3 .
dx

Example 1
Show that the curve y + y3 = 2sin x has a turning point at the point

2 ,1 .

Solution
y y 3 2sin x
Differentiating implicitly gives:
d
d
[ y y 3 ] [2sin x]
dx
dx
dy
dy
3y2
2cos x ,

dx
dx
dy
(1 3 y 2 ) 2cos x

dx
dy 2 cos x

dx 1 3 y 2
At the point 2 ,1 x = 2 and y = 1

dy 2 cos 2

0
dx
1 3
So 2 ,1 is a turning point.

Differentiating products of x and y

What is the derivative of xy 2 with respect to x?
You can use the product rule to do this.
du
dv
dy
u x
1 and v y 2
2y .
dx
dx
dx
d
d
v
d
u
So
( xy 2 ) u v
dx

dx
dx
dy
2 xy y
dx

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AQ C4 Differentiation 1 Notes and Examples

Example 2
Given that y2 + 3xy + x3 = 25, find

dy
in terms of x and y.
dx

Solution
y 2 3xy x 3 25
Differentiating implicitly gives:
d 2
d
[ y 3xy x3 ] [25]
dx
dx
dy
dy

2 y 3x 3 y 3x 2 0
dx
dx
dy

(2 y 3x) 3 y 3x 2
dx
dy
(3 y 3x 2 )

dx
2 y 3x

The product rule is used here to

differentiate 3xy, with u = 3x and v = y.
It is not necessary to write out all the
details of the product rule if you dont
feel that you need to.

You may also like to look at the Implicit differentiation video.

Logarithmic differentiation (extension work)

Logarithms and implicit differentiation can be used to simplify differentiating
complicated product and quotient functions, as in the following example.

Example 3
Find the derivative of y

(1 x )(1 2 x )3
1 x2

Solution
(1 x)(1 2 x)3
y
1 x2
Take logarithms of each side:
(1 x)(1 2 x)3
ln y ln

1 x2

ln(1 x) ln(1 2 x)3 ln 1 x 2

ln(1 x) 3ln(1 2 x) 12 ln(1 x 2 )
Now differentiate implicitly:

1 dy
1
3
1 2x

(2)
y dx x 1 1 2 x
2 (1 x 2 )
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AQ C4 Differentiation 1 Notes and Examples

1
dy
6
x
y

2
dx
x 1 1 2 x (1 x )
(1 x)(1 2 x)3 1
6
x

2
1 x2
x 1 1 2 x (1 x )

This is quite a fearsome looking expression! But try

differentiating y directly and you will appreciate that
the logarithmic differentiation is considerably easier!

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