Capatana 1

Alexandra Capatana

Mrs. Tallman

AP Calculus

24 February 2020

Derivatives, Integrals, and Graphs in Calculus

In calculus, some of the most important concepts involve derivatives and integrals. Along

with them come fundamental theorems to help understand them and their relationships to other

mathematical concepts. Although common in calculus, these ideas can prove to be difficult to

master.

Integrals and derivatives are calculus concepts that are inverses of each other. ​The

derivative of a function at a given point is also the instantaneous rate of change, referencing the

slope at any given point. The integral is the area, or sum of everything under the curve.

Figure 1. Derivative Equation from Dawkins, Paul. “The Definition Of The Derivative.”
Calculus I - The Definition of the Derivative​,
tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Classes/CalcI/DefnOfDerivative.aspx.

The figure above shows the formal equation used to find the derivative. In this equation,

the ​h i​ s becoming infinitely small in order to approach zero, without becoming zero. The

difference between f(x) and f(x+h) is used as ​h​ will be so miniscule that it will find the rate of

change at an exact point.​ The top represents a change in the value of the function between the
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two points whose x values are x and x + h. The bottom of the ratio is the change in the x value

itself. This means that this equation is a slope.

Figure 2. Derivative On a Function from “Derivative.” ​Wikipedia​, Wikimedia Foundation, 11

Jan. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative.

The figure above shows the derivative at an exact point on a graph.

An integral is the area under a curve. It does this by using infinitely small rectangles that

fill up the the area beneath the curve between the bounds given.
b
∫ f (x) dx
a

Figure 3. Notation for Integrals

The figure above shows the notation used for definite integrals. This is used to find the

exact area under a function. The equation does this by creating an infinite number of infinitely

small rectangles for the interval between “a” and “b,” the start and endpoint respectively. The

f(x) corresponds to the height of the rectangle at any given point. This is multiplied by dx, or the

width and change in x, that is infinitely small to create infinitely many rectangles that will near

the true area under a curve. The area of the curve is when each rectangle is added together by

integrating from a to b. As the number of rectangles increases and the width of each one

decreases, a more accurate area will be found.

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Figure 4. Area Under a Curve

Above is a figure showing what each variable corresponds to when finding the area under

a curve. “A” is the lower limit and “B” is where the integration stops. “dx” is the change of x and

f(x) refers to the y value, which is the height above the x-axis or of a rectangle at a given point.

In this graph, the function f(x) is equal to x and dx is dx.

Although different, the derivative and integral are inverses of each other. If there was a

function f(x) equal to 4x+4, the derivative of this function is notated as f’(x) is equal to 4. The

integral of this derivative would return the function to 4x+4. If the integral of f(x) was taken,

then it would equal 2x2 + 4x +c. The c is a constant, meaning any number since the derivative of

any number would be zero. Taking the derivative of the integral would return the function back

to the original f(x), it being 4x+4.

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Derivatives work by lowering the power of the function by 1 and integrals work by

increasing the power of the function by 1. For example, if the original function was quadratic,

then the derivative would be linear and the integral would be cubic. When deriving, the initial

power is multiplied by the coefficient. If x2 was derived, it would be 2x. When integrating, take

into account the coefficient, changing it so when it is derived, it equals the original equation. For

example, when integrating x2 , the answer would be 13 x3 . This is because when the power of 3

is multiplied by ⅓, the coefficient will be 1, just like the original equation. Then the power is

brought down 1, making it x2 .

In relations to graphs, derivatives and integral are very important. When given the graph

of the velocity of an object over time, the derivative is the change in velocity over time, or

acceleration. The integral is the sum of the velocity over time, or distance travelled. The unit of

the derivative is the unit of the y-axis divided by the x-axis unit. The integral is the product of the

y and x units. For example, if the y-axis unit is​ m/s​ and​ s ​for the x-axis, the derivative is ​m/s/s​.

The integral would be the product, or just ​m.​

Another example would be using a price function. The derivative of a price function

would be the change in price and the integral would be the total amount of money spent. For

example, if the original function is the price of a slice of bread and the equation is 4x+4, where x

is the number of bread slices, the derivative would be 4. This means that the price increases by 4

for every slice added. The integral would be the total price of all the slices of the bread, or

2x2 + 4x +c​.

There is also a relationship between the graph of a derivative, integral, and original

function. Derivatives can explain more about an original function as if the first derivative is
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equal to zero, that means there is a critical point in the original function at the value of x. A

critical point is when the slope of a function at a particular point is zero or nonexistent. This

occurs at the functions maximums, minimums, or plateaus since there is not a slope at those

points.

Figure 5. First and Second Derivative from “First and Second Derivatives Theorems.” ​First and
Second Derivatives Theorems​,
www.analyzemath.com/calculus/Problems/First_second_derivative.html.

The figure above shows a cubic function, in blue, along with it’s first and second

derivative which are red and black respectively. On the original cubic function, the local

maximum and minimum are marked with black dots at 2 and -2. On the derivative function the

black dots represent the zero values, which are when the local maximum and minimums occur. If

the derivative functions approaches from above the x-axis like at x=-2, it will be a maximum,

whereas if it comes from below like at x=2, it will be a minimum.

The concavity of a function can also be determined using derivatives. The second

derivative is the derivative of the first derivative function. Points of inflections are when the

concavity in a graph changes, which occurs when the second derivative is equal to zero and

crosses the x-axis, or at the maximum and minimum of the derivative graph. Points of inflections

occur at the derivative maximum or minimum because the second derivative will be zero there.
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The first derivative can determine concavity as if it is negative and then positive, the

original function is concave up, but if it is positive and crosses the x-axis to become negative,

then the original is concave down. If the second derivative is positive then the original function

is concave up, meaning it is in a similar shape to a quadratic, and there will be a minimum point

in that area of the graph when the first derivative is equal to zero. If the second derivative is

negative, then the original is concave down and a maximum will be produced in that area of the

graph when the first derivative is equal to zero. For example, in Figure 5 at x=2, the original is

concave up with the second derivative being positive and a minimum was produced as the first

derivative was equal to zero. Also, if the slope of the original function is positive, the first

derivative is positive at a point, whereas the slope is negative if the first derivative is negative.

There are multiple theorems in calculus that help in the process of understanding

derivatives and integration.

b
∫ f (x) dx = F (b) − F (a)
a

Figure 6. Fundamental Theorem of Calculus

The fundamental theorem of calculus states that if a function can be integrated, then the

area is equal to the integral evaluated at the upper limit minus the integral evaluated at the lower

limit. This theorem applies when ​f​ is continuous between​ a​ and ​b,​ with a being ​a​ constant. the

definite integral from a to b equals F(b) minus F(a), and the capital F is the integrated function.

This explains that every continuous function will have an integral.

x
F (x) = ∫ f (t) dt
a
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F ′ (x) = f (x)

Figure 7. Second Fundamental Theorem of Calculus

The second fundamental theorem of calculus states that the derivative of an integral is

equal to the integrand evaluated at the variable limit where the integrand is defined as the

function being integrated. This happens when ​a i​ s constant and ​f​ is continuous in this

neighborhood. The derivative of the variable is multiplied to the answer, which would be 1 in

this case. If ​a​ was the upper limit and the variable was the lower limit, the answer would be

negated.

f (b)−f (a)
f `` (c) = b−a

Figure 8. Mean Value Theorem Equation

The figure above shows the mean value theorem. This states that if a function is

differentiable on the open interval from a to b and it is continuous on the closed interval from​ a

to​ b​, then at some x value in the interval instantaneous rate of change is equal to the average rate

of change of the interval. Graphically, the slope of the secant line between two points on the

function is equal to the slope of the tangent line at a specific point in the interval on the function.
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Figure 9. Mean Value Theorem Graph from “The Mean Value Theorem .” ​Calculus I - The
Mean Value Theorem​, tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Classes/CalcI/MeanValueTheorem.aspx.

The figure above shows the Mean Value Theorem illustrated graphically. When x is

equal to c, the slope of the tangent line is equal to the slope of the tangent line across points a and

b.

Figure 10. Intermediate Value Theorem from “Intermediate Value Theorem.” ​Intermediate Value
Theorem​, www.mathsisfun.com/algebra/intermediate-value-theorem.html.

The intermediate value theorem requires there to be a continuous function between the

interval of ​a​ to ​b​. This simply states that if there is a y value between any two values of f(c), then
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there is a value of x from ​a​ to ​b​ that exists. The figure above supports this as every x value

between ​a​ and ​b​ has a y-value.

Despite the intermediate value theorem seeming similar, they are different. They both

require a continuous function on the open interval from ​a​ to ​b​, but the Mean Value Theorem

requires the function to be differentiable for all values of x from the interval ​a​ to ​b.​ Also, the

Mean Value Theorem states the slope of a secant line between two points is equal to the tangent

line of some value of x between two points. The Intermediate Value Theorem purpose is that

there is a value of x in the domain of ​a​ to ​b​ that will give a value of y if it is between any two

values of f(c).

The definite integral is normally evaluated from point ​a​ to point ​b.​ This means the area

underneath the curve of the graph will be added from ​a​ to ​b​. An example of this notation can be

found in Figure 3. This would be the same as subtracting the integral of the function at a from b.

If the integral was taken from b to a instead of a to b, the value of the answer would stay the

same, but now the sign would change. The value of the numbers would be the same, but now the

order in which you subtract them is different, causing the sign of the final answer to flip.

To gain a better understanding of derivatives and integrals, example problems are to be

followed. The graph of ​f``​ is shown below with ​f(​ 1) = 3.

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Figure 11. Example Problem from Acre, Scot. “Oral Presentations.” MMSTC,
mmstcmracre.weebly.com/oral-presentations.html.

The graph above is the derivative graph. The relative maximums of the original function,

f(x)​, are x=-3 and 4. This is because the derivatives at these points are zero and the derivative

graph approaches from above the x-axis (it is positive then negative). The points of inflection are

when the concavity of the graph changes, which occurs when the second derivative is zero. This

means that the points of inflection in this example are at x=-4, -1, and 2. These are also the

maximum and minimums on the derivative graph. The graph is concave up from x=-1 to 2, but is

only concave up with a positive slope from x=1 to 2. It is also concave up and has a positive

slope from -5 to -4. This is because the derivative graph has a positive slope while being

positive, or above the x-axis, while at these intervals. The absolute minimum value of f(x) is at

x=1. This is because the first derivative is 0 and the first derivative leading to the point is

negative and becoming positive. This means that the function decreases until x=1 then increases

past that point.

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In this next example, g(3), g’(3), and g’’(3) will be found given the function
x
g (x) = ∫ f ′ (t) dt . To find g(3), integrate the derivative graph from the x value 1 to 3. The
1

counting squares method could be used, which will give 2.5 squares for this region. This means

that if the squares were added between the bounds (1,3), it would be 2.5. Since the integration of

a derivative is simply the original function, then g(x)=f(x), meaning g’(x)=f’(x) and g’’(x) =

f’’(x). This then means that g’(3) is f’(3), then g’(3) would be 1 when looking at the graph in

Figure 11. The instantaneous slope at f’’(3) would be -1 as that is what the slope of the derivative

graph is at x=3 in Figure 11.

For another example, the functions F and G are differentiable for all real numbers, and G

strictly increases. The function H(x)=F(G(x))-6 and the following values of F(x), G(x), and their

derivatives are given below. Also given is the values of the functions and their first derivatives.

Table 1
Given Values
X F(x) F’(x) G(x) G’(x) H(x) H’(x)
1 3 4 2 5 3 ?
2 9 2 3 1 4 -2
3 10 -4 4 2 -7 -4
4 -1 3 6 7 ? ?

Table 1 shows the values for the given example. There is a value r for 1<r<3 such that

H(r) = -5 according to the Intermediate Value Theorem. H(x) is differentiable and continuous

and H(1) is 3 with H(3) being -7, that means -5 lies somewhere between those two values.

According to the Mean Value Theorem explained in Figure 8, there must be a value​ c​ for 1<c<3

such that H’(c)=-5. The average slope of the tangent line will be equal to the slope of the secant

line from H(1) to H(3). The slope is taken by finding the difference of the two and dividing it by
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the range, or (-7-3)/(3-1), which ends up as -5. The derivative of the tangent line is x=c is the

slope of the secant line between h(3) and h(1).

g(x)
If the function were to be w(x) = ∫ f (t) dt , then w’(3) can be found. The second
1

fundamental theorem of calculus states that if w(x) is equal to the integral f(t)dt from 1 to g(x),

then w’(x) is equal to f(g(x))*g’(x). The value of G(3) is 4 and F(4) is -1, which is multiplied by

g’(3), which is 2. So -1 times 2 is -2, meaning w’(3) is -2.

If the function given is y=G​-1 ​(x) at x=2, then the equation for the line tangent to the graph

can be found. Taking the inverse of a function is when the values of x and y are swapped. So

G​-1​(2) is 1 because when x is 1, G is equal to 2. The slope of the tangent line can be found by

dividing 1 by G’(G​-1​(2)). Since G​-1​(2) is 1, then 1/g’(1) is left and g’(1) is 5. This means that the

slope of the tangent line is ⅕. The point (2,1) can be plugged into point-slope form and gives an

equation of y-1=1/5(x-2), which is the tangent line.

-1​
H (x) = xF (x)
-1​ -1​
H ′ (x) = x′ * F (x)+ xF ‘(x)
-1​
H’(x) = 1* F (x)+x*(1/F’(x))

H ′ (3) = 1 * F ′ (3) + 3 * (1/F ’(1))

H (3) = 1 * 1 + 3 * 1/4

H (3) = 1.75

Figure 12. Finding H’(3)

In order to find H’(3), the table has to be used using the information that F​ -1​(x)=B(x) and

H(x) = xB(x). To find H’(3), F’(3) is found using Table 1 and see what input gives an output of

3. This would be 1, therefore F​ -1​(3) is 1. The product rule is used to derive x F​ -1​(x), since that is
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what H(x) using substitution of the given information. The derivative of x is 1 and that is

multiplied by F​ -1​(3), which is 1 and it produces the product 1. This 1 is added to the product of x

and the derivative of F​ -1​(x), which is 1/ F​ ‘​(x) .The equation is now 1+x(1/ F​ ‘​(x)). F’(1) is 4

according to Table 1 and 3 is plugged in for x. H’(x) would then be simplified out to 1.75 as

1+(3/4) is 1.75.

Calculus involves concepts such as derivatives and integrals that prove to be very

versatile and useful. Although simple, these topics help solve problems that would otherwise be

complex. With the help of any graph, whether it be the first derivative or second derivative, a lot

can be said about the original function. These impressive tools can be used to solve difficult

problems and learn more about a function.