Understanding Derivatives

Patrick Braga
May 17, 2009

Consider the graph of a linear equation. Being that it is simply a straight

line, it has a consistent slope throughout its entirity. Now consider the graph
of a quadratic equation. Its slope changes continuously: at points, it may be
steeper or less steep. The slope of any given point of the plotted equation is
equal to the slope of a line tangent to the curve at that exact point.

Let it be considered now that a point (a, f (a)) is selected on the curve
of the graphed quadratic function and that a nearby point h units away is also
selected: (a + h, f (a + h)). The slope f (a+h)−f
(a+h)−a
(a)
represents the secant line
defined between the two said points. It should be agreed upon that when h = 0,
the slope of the curve at the point (a, f (a)) will have been calculated. Knowing
this, the best way to approximate the slope of the curve at the moment is by
finding its limit upon approaching 0.
f (a + h) − f (a)
lim
x→0 (a + h) − a
When the slope of the secant line approaches that of the tangent line, revealing
the slope of the curve on the point (a, f (a)). In fact, that is the definition of
the derivative: the slope of a curve at an exact curve. Let’s apply this concept.
Given the function f (x) =2 , what is the slope of the curve when x = 3? When
3 is inputted to the function, the output is 9. This gives us the coordinate
(3, 9). Let’s continue using the idea of a nearby point h units away, giving us
the coordinate (3 + h, (3 + h)2 ). This results in the following slope:
(3+h)2 −9
(3+h)−3

This is the simplified slope:

6+h
Now, we can find the instantaneous slope of the curve at (3, 9) by finding the
limit of h as it approaches 0 (that is, the limit of a distance between the two
points):
lim (6 + h) = 6
h→0

1
 This however, is the slope specific only to (3, 9). Instead of specifying
the slope to this one coordinate in lim (6 + h) = 6, it can be generalized to
h→0
f (x + h) − f (x)
lim , which can hence be simplified to lim (2x+h), which equals
h→0 h h→0
2x. This derivative of f (x) should always be denoted as f 0 (x). The derivate
function of f (x) = x2 is, then, f 0 (x) = 2x.

While the limit formula can be used to find the derivative of a function
with more than one variable, a property known as the “product rule” can also
be applied. Let’s take a more complex polynomial function:
f (x) = 2x2 + 4x + 8
We want to find its derivative:
∂2x2 +4x
∂x

To apply the product rule, the first thing that needs to be done is to separate
the polynomial into various separate monomials: 2x2 and 4x. In each of these
monomials, the coefficient is multiplied by the value of the exponent and 1 is
subtracted from the exponent’s value, resulting in the following monomials: 4x
and 4. From here, the derivative function can be made:

f 0 (x) = 4x + 4

Or, in an alternate simplified form:

f 0 (x) = 4(x + 1)
Let’s check to make sure that the derivative function was calculated correctly,
following the previously stated method. Here is the slope of f (x) = 2x2 + 4x + 8
between x and x + h:
f (x+h)−f (x) f (x+h)−f (x) (2[x+h]2 +4[x+h])−(2[x]2 +4[x])
m= (x+h)−x = h = h = 2h + 4x + 4

Now we can solve for the derivative function by seeing the limit of the slope as
it approaches zero.
f 0 (x) = lim 2h + 4x + 4 −→ f 0 (x) = 4x + 4
h→0