Differential calculus (exercises with detailed solutions)

1. Using the definition, compute the derivative at x = 0 of the following functions:

a) 2x 5

b)

2. Find the tangent line at x = 1 of f (x) =

x3
x4

c)

x+1

d) x sin x.

x
.
x2

3. Compute the derivatives of the following functions

a(x) = 2x3 9x + 7 cos x
h(x) = log cos x + x tan x

b(x) = x sin x + cos x

i(x) =

x2 4
c(x) = 2
x +4

p
4x2 3

l(x) = sin log

1 tan x
d(x) =
1 + tan x

m(x) =

e(x) = x2 log x + 3x

n(x) = arctan(1 x)

f (x) =

log x 1
log x + 1

g(x) = x + 1

sin 3x

o(x) = x arcsin x +

1 x2

x
p(x) = log 3 .

4. Discuss the differentiability at x = 0 of the following functions

f (x) = sin |x|;
5. Let

f (x) =

g(x) = cos

|x|.

(x )2 2, x 0
.
sin x,
x<0

Find , R such that f is continuous and differentiable on R.

6. Discuss the differentiability of f (x) = |x2 1|.
7. Let

f (x) = |x|x

and

g(x) = e1/x .

Verify that is possible to extend f and g to continuous functions on R. Are the extended functions
differentiable at x = 0?
8. Write the equation of the tangent line to the graph of the function
f (x) =

x+2
log(2x 3) .
x2 1

at x = 2.
9. Study the monotonicity of f (x) = 3x + sin x.
10. Find local maxima and minima of the function f (x) = ex + 3ex .
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11. Study the sign of the derivative of the following functions in a neighborhood of x0 = 0 and discuss their
behavior at x0 = 0:
f (x) = 3 sin x 3x
g(x) = 4x + 4 cos x.
12. Let f (x) = x7 + x. Verify that f is invertible on R. Verify that f 1 is differentiable on R, find (f 1 )0 ;
compute (f 1 )0 (0) and (f 1 )0 (2).

13. Find the asymptotes of the function x2 6x + 7.

14. At which point of the graph of f (x) = 5x3 is the tangent line parallel to y = 2x? At which points is it
orthogonal to the line y = x + 5?
15. Prove that the tangent lines to the graphs of the functions f (x) = x3 and g(x) = 1/(3x), at every point
where x 6= 0, are orthogonal.
16. Verify that
f (x) = log(2 + x) + 2

x+1
x+2

has a unique intersection with the xaxis (at x0 = 1).

17. Verify that f (x) = x3 2x2 satisfies the assumptions of Lagranges Theorem on the interval [0, 1] and find
(0, 1) such that
f 0 () = f (1) f (0).
(
2x2 + x2 sin x1 , if x 6= 0
18. Let f (x) =
0,
if x = 0.
Prove that f is differentiable on [0, +) and that f 0 is not continuous at 0.
19. Find R such that f (x) =

x4 + 3
satisfies the assumptions of Lagranges Theorem on [0, 1].
x2

20. For which values of a R is the function f (x) = x2 + a cos x convex on R?

21. Prove the Bernoulli inequality, that is
(1 + x) 1 + x,
22. Prove that
sin x x

1, x > 1.
x3
,
6

x 0.

23. Find the number of real solutions of the following equations:

a) x3 + 3x2 + 5x + 3 = 0;

b) x4 + 4x + 12 = 0;

c) 3x5 5x3 + 1 = 0.

24. Is the following proposition true or false? If true, prove it, otherwise find a counterexample.
R the equation x5 + x = has exactly one solution.
25. Find the number of solutions of the equation
x log x = ,

R.

26. Find the number of solutions of the equation

x ex = ,
27. Prove that for every a R the equation

R.

x2 arctan x = a

has exactly one solution.

Solutions

1. a) lim [2x 5 (5)]/x = 2; b) 1/16; c) lim [ 1 + x 1]/x = lim [(1 + x) 1]/ x 1 + x + 1 = 1/2;
x0

x0

d) 0.

x0

2. The equation of the tangent line is y = f (1) + f 0 (1)(x 1). Hence we compute the derivative of f at
2
0
x0 = 1. Since f 0 (x) = (x2)
2 , f (1) = 2, and the tangent line is y(x) = 1 2(x 1).
3. a) 6x2 9 7 sin x,
2
x(log x + 1)2
3 cos 3x
m)
5
5 sin4 3x
f)

b) x cos x,
g) 10x(x2 + 1)4

n)

x2

1
2x + 2

16x
,
(x2 + 4)2
x
h)
cos2 x

2
,
e) 2x log x + x + 3,
(sin x + cos x)2

4x
1
i)
cos log x
l)
2
2x
4x 3

x
p) log(log 3) log 3 .

c)

d)

o) arcsin x

4. At x = 0 f 0 does not exists. Indeed the right an left derivatives of f at x = 0 are

lim x x+

sin x 0
=1
x

and

lim x x

sin(x) 0
= 1.
x

The right derivative of g at 0 is 1/2, the left one is 1/2, hence g is not differentiable at x = 0.

5. f is continuous and differentiable if x 6= 0; f is continuous at x = 0, if = 2.

The derivative of f is f 0 (x) = 2(x ) if x > 0 and f 0 (x) = cos x if x < 0, We now compute the limit
of f 0 (x) as x 0: if such limit exists and assumes a value ` R then f is differentiable at x =0 and
f 0 (0) = `. We have lim+ f 0 (x) = 2 and lim f 0 (x) = , hence f is differentiable if = 2 2 and
x0

x0

= 2 or = 2 2 and = 2.
6. f is differentiable on R \ {1, 1}. At x = 1, f f is not differentiable (the right derivative is 2, the left
one 2); at x = 1, f is not differentiable (the right derivative is 2, the left one 2).
If x 6= 1, f is x2 1 or 1 x2 , hence it is differentiable and its derivative is respectively 2x and 2x.
7. We can extend f to a continuous function at x = 0. Indeed, since |x|x := ex log |x| , we have
lim |x|x = lim ex log |x| = 1.

x0

x0

Let

f(x) :=

then

|x|x ,
1,

if x 6= 0
;
if x = 0

x log |x|
f(x) f(0)
|x|x 1
e
1
= lim
= lim
log |x| = .
x0
x0
x0
x0
x
x log |x|
lim

f is not differentiable at 0.
The function g can be extended to a continuous function at x = 0. Indeed
1

lim e x2 = 0.

x0

Let

g(x) :=

e x2 ,
0,

Hence

if x 6= 0 ;
if x = 0

2
g(x) g(0)
e x2 0
= lim
= lim t et = 0.
t
x0
x0
x0
x
The extention g is then differentiable at 0, and g0 (0) = 0 .
1

lim

8. We remark that f is differentiable at x = 2 and that, whenever x > 3/2,

f 0 (x) =

1
2x(x + 2)
2
2

.
x2 1
(x 1)2
2x 3

In particular, f 0 (2) = 31/9. Since f (2) = 4/3, the tangent line is y = 31/9 x + 74/9.
9. We compute f 0 (x) = 3 + cos x and we impose that f 0 (x) 0. Since this inequality is satisfied for every
x R, f f increases on R.
10. dom(f ) = R and f is differentiable on R. Since f 0 (x) = ex 3ex , we have that f 0 (x) > 0 if e2x > 3,
that is if x > 12 log 3; on the other hand f 0 (x) < 0 if x < 12 log 3. Hence f has minimum at x = 12 log 3.
11. f 0 (x) = 3 cos x 3, hence f 0 (0) = 0 and f 0 (x) < 0 for every x sufficiently close to 0 (except 0). x0 = 0 is
a point of inflection. For the function g, x0 = 0 is a point of inflection.
12. f is continuous and strictly increasing, hence invertible, on R. Furthermore, since f 0 never vanishes on
R, the inverse function f 1 is differentiable for every x dom(f 1 ) = R. For every x R we have
1 0
1
1
(x) = 0 1
f
=
.
6
1
f (f (x))
7 (f (x)) + 1

0
Since f (0) = 0, f 1 (0) = 0, hence f 1 (0) = 1.

0
Since f (1) = 2 , f 1 (2) = 1 , hence f 1 (2) = 1/8.

13. Since dom(f ) = R \ {(3 2, 3 + 2)}, we can look for oblique asymptotes at + and at .
We compute
f (x)
|x|
= lim
x x
x x

lim

Furthermore
lim (f (x) 1 x) = lim

x+

x+

6
7
+
= 1.
x x2

6x + 7
= 3
x2 6x + 7 + x

and

6x + 7
= 3.
x2 6x + 7 x
Hence f has an oblique asymptote at +, y = x 3, and an oblique asymptote at +, y = x + 3.
p
14. In the first case we impose that x2 = 2/15, we obtain x = 2/15.
lim (f (x) + 1 x) = lim

In the second one we impose 15x2 = 1, which does not admit any solution.
15. The slopes of the tangent lines to the graphs of f and g are respectively m(x) = 3x2 on R and n(x) =
1/(3x2 ) on R \ {0}. Since for every x 6= 0 we have m(x) n(x) = 1, the tangent lines to f and g are
orthogonal.
16. dom(f ) = (2, +) and limx f (x) = . Furthermore f is strictly increasing on dom(f ). Hence f
has a unique zero at x0 = 1.
17. f is continuous on [0, 1] and differentiable on (0, 1), the assumptions of the Lagranges Theorem are
satisfied. Furthermore we have = 1/3.
18. If x 6= 0 the function is differentiable. At x = 0 we compute the limit:

2x2 + x2 sin x1
1
= lim 2x + x sin
= 0,
x0
x0
x
x
lim

hence f is differentiable on R.
f 0 (x) = 4x + 2 sin(1/x) cos(1/x) when x 6= 0 and f 0 (0) = 0. Since limx0 f 0 (x) does not exists, f 0 is
not continuous on R.
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19. f must be continuous on [0, 1] and differentiable on (0, 1). f satisfies these assumptions if x2 6= , for
every x [0, 1].
If < 0, such condition is always satisfied.
If = 0, is not satisfied (at x = 0 the
denominator vanishes).

for every x [0, 1], that is x 6= for every x [0, 1]. This is
If > 0, we need to impose
x
=
6

equivalent to ask that

/ [0, 1] that is
/ [0, 1]. We conclude that the assumptions of the Lagranges
Theorem are satisfied for every
/ [0, 1].
20. If a = 0 f is trivially convex; more generally, f 00 (x) = 2 a cos x is positive if a cos x 2. If a > 0, this
inequality is trivially satisfied for every x such that cos x < 0. If cos x 0, we obtain 0 a cos x a 2,
hence we need 0 a 2. If a < 0, the inequality a cos x 2 is satisfied for every a if cos x > 0. If
cos x 0, then the inequality is |a cos x| 2 and we deduce |a| 2.
Conclusions: f is convex on R if |a| 2.
21. Let f (x) := (1 + x) , x > 1. We have f 0 (x) = (1 + x)1 and f 00 (x) = ( 1)(1 + x)2 . Since f 00
is positive, f is convex, hence
f (x) f (0) + f 0 (0)(x 0) = 1 + x.
We can also argue in a different way defining g(x) := (1 + x) 1 x, as x > 1. We remark that
g(0) = 0, g 0 (x) > 0 when x > 0 and g 0 (x) < 0 when 1 < x < 0. Then g(x) 0 for every x > 1.
3

22. Let f (x) := sin x x + x6 , x 0. We have f 0 (x) = cos x 1 + x2 and f 00 (x) = sin x + x. We know that
sin x x for every x 0, hence f 00 (x) 0 for every x 0 and f is convex. We then have the estimate
f (x) f (0) + f 0 (0)(x 0) = 0 for every x 0.
23. a) Let f (x) = x3 + 3x2 + 5x + 3; f as x and f is strictly increasing: the equation has
exactly one real solution.
b) Let g(x) = x4 + 4x + 12; g + as x ; g has a minimum at x = 1, g(1) = 9. Hence the
equation g(x) = 0 has no real solutions.
c) Let h(x) = 3x5 5x3 +1; h as x . h0 (x) = 15x2 (x2 1), hence h is strictly increasing when
x < 1 or x > 1, decreasing in (1, 1); x = 0 is a point of inflection. Since h(1) = 3 and h(1) = 1,
h(x) = 0 has 3 real solutions (one smaller then 1, one between 1 and 1, one greater then 1).
24. True; indeed if f (x) = x5 + x we have limx+ = + and limx = . Hence the equation has at
least one solution. The solution is unique since f is strictly increasing
25. We study f (x) = x log x, defined when x > 0. We have limx0+ f = 0 and limx+ f = +. Furthermore f 0 (x) = log x + 1, hence f increases when x > 1/e. f has a minimum at 1/e, and f (1/e) = 1/e.
We then obtain: if < 1/e we have no solutions; if = 1/e we have one solution; if 1/e < < 0 we
have two solutions; if 0 we have one solution.
26. We study the function f (x) = xex , defined for every x R. We have limx = 0 and limx+ =
+. Furthermore, f 0 (x) = ex (x + 1), hence f increases if x > 1. f has a minimum if x = 1 and
f (1) = 1/e. We then obtain: if < 1/e we have no solutions; if = 1/e we have one solution; if
1/e < < 0 we have two solutions; if 0 we have one solution.
27. We study f (x) = x2 arctan x, defined for every x R. We have limx = and limx+ = +.
Furthermore, f (0) = 0 and f 0 (x) = 2x arctan x + x2 /(1 + x2 ). Since x arctan x 0 (and vanishes if and
only if x = 0) and 1/(x2 + 1) 1 (the equality holds if and only if x = 0), we conclude that f 0 (x) > 0 for
every x R, x 6= 0. Hence f is strictly increasing. The equation admits a unique solution for every value
of a.