LOGARITHMIC DIFFERENTIATION

The following problems illustrate the process of logarithmic dierentiation. It is

a means of dierentiating algebraically complicated functions or functions for
which the ordinary rules of dierentiation do not apply. For example, in the
problems that follow, you will be asked to dierentiate expressions where a
variable is raised to a variable power. An example and two COMMON
INCORRECT SOLUTIONS are :
1.)
and
2.)

BOTH OF THESE SOLUTIONS ARE WRONG because the ordinary rules of

dierentiation do not apply. Logarithmic dierentiation will provide a way to
dierentiate a function of this type. It requires deft algebra skills and careful
use of the following unpopular, but well-known, properties of logarithms.
Though the following properties and methods are true for a logarithm of any
base, only the natural logarithm (base e, where e
),
, will be used
in this problem set.
PROPERTIES OF THE NATURAL LOGARITHM
1.

2.

3.
4.
5.
6.

.
.
.
.

AVOID THE FOLLOWING LIST OF COMMON MISTAKES

1.

2.

3.
4.

5.

.
.

The following problems range in diiculty from average to challenging.

PROBLEM 1 : Dierentiate y = xx .
Click HERE to see a detailed solution to problem 1.

PROBLEM 2 : Dierentiate y = x(e

x)

Click HERE to see a detailed solution to problem 2.

PROBLEM 3 : Dierentiate y = (3x2+5)1/x

Click HERE to see a detailed solution to problem 3.

PROBLEM 4 : Dierentiate

Click HERE to see a detailed solution to problem 4.

PROBLEM 5 : Dierentiate

Click HERE to see a detailed solution to problem 5.

PROBLEM 6 : Dierentiate

Click HERE to see a detailed solution to problem 6.

PROBLEM 7 : Dierentiate

Click HERE to see a detailed solution to problem 7.

PROBLEM 8 : Dierentiate

Click HERE to see a detailed solution to problem 8.

PROBLEM 9 : Dierentiate

Click HERE to see a detailed solution to problem 9.

PROBLEM 10 : Consider the function

. Find an

equation of the line tangent to the graph of f at x=1 .

Click HERE to see a detailed solution to problem 10.

PROBLEM 11 : Consider the function

Determine the slope of the line perpendicular to the graph of f at x=1 .

Click HERE to see a detailed solution to problem 11.

PROBLEM 12 : Dierentiate
Click HERE to see a detailed solution to problem 12.

Click HERE to return to the original list of various types of

calculus problems.
Your comments and suggestions are welcome. Please e-mail any correspondence
to Duane Kouba by clicking on the following address :
kouba@math.ucdavis.edu
About this document ...

Duane Kouba

1998-06-06