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Calc1lec5 PDF
Calc1lec5 PDF
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Lecture 5 18.01 Fall 2006
Lecture 5
Implicit Dierentiation
d a
Example 1. (x ) = axa1 .
dx
We proved this by an explicit computation for a = 0, 1, 2, .... From this, we also got the formula for
a = 1, 2, .... Let us try to extend this formula to cover rational numbers, as well:
m
m
a= ; y=xn where m and n are integers.
n
dy dy dy
We want to compute . We can say y n = xm so ny n1 = mxm1 . Solve for :
dx dx dx
dy m xm1
=
dx n y n1
m
We know that y = x( n ) is a function of x.
m xm1
dy
=
dx n y n1
xm1
m
=
n (xm/n )n1
m xm1
=
n xm(n1)/n
m (m1) m(n1)
= x n
n
m n(m1)m(n1)
= x n
n
m nmnnm+m
= x n
n
m mn
= xn n
n
dy m m 1
So, = xn
dx n
This is the same answer as we were hoping to get!
Example2. Equation of a circle with a radius of 1: x2 +y 2 = 1 which we can write as y 2 = 1x2 .
So y = 1 x2 . Let us look at the positive case:
y = + 1 x2 = (1 x2 ) 2
dy 1 1 x x
= (1 x2 ) 2 (2x) = =
dx 2 1x 2 y
1
Lecture 5 18.01 Fall 2006
Example 3. y 3 + xy 2 + 1 = 0. In this case, its not easy to solve for y as a function of x. Instead,
dy
we use implicit dierentiation to nd .
dx
dy dy
3y 2 + y 2 + 2xy = 0
dx dx
dy
We can now solve for in terms of y and x.
dx
dy
(3y 2 + 2xy) = y 2
dx
dy y 2
=
dx 3y 2 + 2xy
Inverse Functions
Now, let us use implicit dierentiation to nd the derivative of the inverse function.
y = f (x)
1
f (y) = x
d 1 d
(f (y)) = (x) = 1
dx dx
d 1 1
(f (y)) =
dy dy
dx
2
Lecture 5 18.01 Fall 2006
So, implicit dierentiation makes it possible to nd the derivative of the inverse function.
Example. y = arctan(x)
tan y = x
d dx
[tan(y)] = = 1
dx dx
d dy
[tan(y)] = 1
dy dx
1 dy
2
= 1
cos (y) dx
dy
= cos2 (y) = cos2 (arctan(x))
dx
y
(1+x2)1/2
1
Figure 1: Triangle with angles and lengths corresponding to those in the example illustrating dierentiation using
the inverse function arctan
arctan(x) = y
3
Lecture 5 18.01 Fall 2006
So,
dy 1
=
dx 1 + x2
In other words,
d 1
arctan(x) =
dx 1 + x2
Suppose y = f (x) and g(y) = f 1 (y) = x. To graph g and f together we need to write g as a
function of the variable x. If g(x) = y, then x = f (y), and what we have done is to trade the
variables x and y. This is illustrated in Fig. 2
f 1 (f (x)) = x f 1 f (x) = x
f (f 1 (x)) = x f f 1 (x) = x
y y=x
f(x)
g(x)
b=f(a)
a=f-1(b) x
Figure 2: You can think about f 1 as the graph of f reected about the line y = x