More Di¤erentiation Practice

Di¤erentiate (…nd the derivative of) the following func-

tions with respect to x.

a) f (x) = 1x 3
3

b) f (x) = ln(500000 2x)

1 2
c) f (x) = e 2x

What x maximizes each of the following functions?

d) f (x) = 5 + 12x 2x2

e) f (x) = x 1 + (0:9) (150000 1:5x) 1

Solutions
a) Start by considering the product rule and set g (x) =
1 and h (x) = x 3 . Using the di¤erentiation rule for
3
constants, g 0 (x) = 0: Using the polynomial rule h0 (x) =
3x 3 1 = 3x 4. Substituting these pieces into
the product rule. f 0(x) = g (x) h0 (x) + h (x) g 0 (x) =
1 3x 4 + x 3 (0) = x 4
3

b) Start by considering the chain rule and set h (:) =

ln (:) and g (x) = 500000 2x. Using the di¤erentiation
rule for constants, the polynomial rule, and the addition
rule, g 0 (x) = 0 2x1 1 = 2. Using the logarithm rule,
h0 (:) = (:)1 . Substituting these pieces into the chain rule,

1
f 0(x) = h0 (g (x)) g 0 (x) = 500000 2x ( 2).

c) Start by considering the chain rule and set h (:) = e(:)

and g (x) = 12 x 2. Using the polynomial rule and the
product rule, g 0 (x) = 1 ( 2) x 2 1 = x 3. Using
2
the exponential rule h0 (:) = e(:). Substituting these
pieces into the chain rule, f 0(x) = h0 (g (x)) g 0 (x) =
1 2
e 2x x 3 .

d) The function f (x) is called the objective function.

To …nd its maximum (or minimum) set the deriviative
of the function equal to zero (the …rst order condition)
and solve for x. In this case the function is a sum of a
constant and two polynomials. Using the di¤erentiation
rule for constants, the polynomial rule, and the addition
rule, f 0 (x) = 0 + 12 4x = 0. The addition rule allows
the separate calculation of the derivative for each term
of f (x). Solving for x, we …nd that x = 3 maximizes
the objective function.

e) In this case the function is a sum of two polynomi-

als with negative exponents where the second polyno-
mial is itself a function of x. Let g (x) = x 1 ,
the …rst polynomial. Using the polynomial rule, g 0 (x) =
( 1) ( 1) x 2 = x 2. Let the second polynomial be

h (x) = (0:9) (150000 1:5x) 1

and consider the chain rule. Set k (:) = (0:9) (:) 1
and q (x) = 150000 1:5x. Using the rule for constants,
the addition rule, and the polynomial rule, q 0 (x) = 1:5.
Using the polynomial rule, k (:) = (0:9) ( 1) ( 1) (:) 2 =
(0:9) (:) 2. The chain rule for the second polynomial is
given by h0 (x) = k0 (q (x)) q 0 (x). Substituting,

h0 (x) = (0:9) ( 1) ( 1) (150000 1:5x) 2 ( 1:5) :

After putting the pieces together, the …rst order condition
is

f 0 (x) = x 2 + (0:9) (150000 1:5x) 2 ( 1:5) = 0.

Rearrange, and solve for x.