Cambridge Physics PhD Tutor IB DSE IGCSE SAT

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HKU 1st Hons Engineer 93197825 AP MCAT GCE

7.8 Implicit Differentiation

Guidelines for Implicit Differentiation:

1. Differentiate both sides of the equation with respect to x.

dy
2. Collect all terms involving on one side of the equation and move all other terms to the other side.
dx
dy
3. Factor out of the terms on the one side.
dx
dy
4. Solve for by dividing both sides of the equation by the factored term.
dx

2 3
Example 1: Suppose that the equation   x defines a function f with y  f (x) .
x y
dy
Find and the slope of the tangent line at the point (2, 3).
dx
2 3 3x
Solution 1: Solve for y. xy    xy( x)  2 y  3x  x 2 y  y  
x y x2  2
dy ( x 2  2)(3)  3x(2 x)  3x 2  6 dy  18 9
   x 2  
dx ( x 2  2) 2 ( x 2  2) 2 dx 4 2

Solution 2: Clear fractions  2 y  3x  x 2 y 

d
dx

2 y  3x  x 2 y  
dy dy dy 3  2 xy dy 3  12 9
2  3  x2  2 xy    x2  
dx dx 2
dx x  2 dx y  3 2 2

Solution 3:
d 2 3 
   x  
dx  x y 
d
dx
 
2 x 1  3 y 1  x  2 x  2  3 y  2
dy
dx
1

 2 3 dy 2 dy dy  2 y 2  x 2 y 2
  1  2 y 2
 3 x  x 2 2
y   
x 2 y 2 dx dx dx 3x 2
dy  18  36  54 9
x2   
dx y  3 12 12 2
 Cambridge Physics PhD Tutor IB DSE IGCSE SAT
UC Math MA, HKU Chemist hinwahk@gmail.com
HKU 1st Hons Engineer 93197825 AP MCAT GCE

dy
Example 2: If cos( xy)  y , then find .
dx

Solution:
d
c o sxy( )  y    s i nxy( ) x dy  y(1)  dy   x s i nxy( ) dy  y s i nxy( ) 
dx  dx  dx dx
dy
  y s i nxy
()
dy
1  x s i nxy( )  dy   y s i nxy( )
dx dx dx 1  x s i nxy ()

Example 3: Find the gradient of the curve x 2  y 2  2 xy  5 x  3 y  10 at the points where x  1

Solution: First we need to find the values of y when x  1
Putting x  1 we get 1  y 2  2 y  5  3 y  10  y 2  5 y  14  0
which gives  y  2 y  7   0  y  2 or y  7
notice that there are two points to consider (1, 2) and (1, -7)

Differentiating the function x 2  y 2  2 xy  5 x  3 y  10

d ( x 2 ) d ( y 2 ) d 2 xy  d 5 x  d 3 y  d 10
gives     
dx dx dx dx dx dx
dy dy dy
2x  2 y  2 y  2x 53 0
dx dx dx
dy 5  2 x  2 y
giving 
dx 2 y  2 x  3
y
dy 5  2  4 1 P
at P  (1, 2)  
dx 4  2  3 9 x
dy 5  2  14 17 1
at Q  (1,  7)  
dx 14  2  3 9

Note: you can substitute in and find the Q

dy
value of without making it the subject.
dx
The sketch of the graph shows the two points P and Q. From the sketch you can see that the gradient is
negative in both cases.
 Cambridge Physics PhD Tutor IB DSE IGCSE SAT
UC Math MA, HKU Chemist hinwahk@gmail.com
HKU 1st Hons Engineer 93197825 AP MCAT GCE

Your Turn!
dy
Q1. Find by implicit differentiation for each of the following:
dx

(1)  3xy  4 y 2  2 (2) 8 x 2  2 y 3  3xy 2

3 1 2 y
(3)  y (4) 3x 2 
2x y 2 y
(5) x  tan y (6) y  cos( x  y )

(7) x sin y  y sin x  1 (8) x  sec3 ( y 2  1)

Q2. Find the slope of the tangent line at the given point on each curve defined by the
given equation:

(1) x 2  3 y 2  21 ; (3, – 2) (2) x3  3 y  3 ; (1, 8)

(3) xy  y  2 ; (1, 4) (4) 3xy  2 x 4  y 3  23 ; (2, – 3)

 1    
(5) x  cos y ;  ,  (6) sin( xy)  x ; 1, 
2 3   2

dy
Q3. In the following find in terms of x and y
dx
(i) x 2  y 2  10 (ii) 2 x 2  2 y 2  3x  10  7 y
(iii) x 2  y 2  3xy  6 (iv) 2 x3  3xy 2  y 3  0

Q4. Find the gradient of the curve x 2  6 y 2  10 at the points where x  2 .

Q5. Find the gradient of the curve x3  4 xy  y 2  15 at the points where x  2 .

 Cambridge Physics PhD Tutor IB DSE IGCSE SAT
UC Math MA, HKU Chemist hinwahk@gmail.com
HKU 1st Hons Engineer 93197825 AP MCAT GCE

Answers
dy dy dy  3y
A1. (1)  3x  3y  8y 0 
dx dx dx 3x  8 y
dy dy dy 16 x  3 y 2
(2) 16 x  6 y 2  6 xy  3 y 2  
dx dx dx 6 y 2  6 xy

3 1 2 dy dy 2 dy 2  2 y 2
(3)   y  3 y  2 x  2 xy  3  2  4 xy  2y  
2x y dx dx dx 4 xy  3
dy dy dy  12 x  6 xy
(4) 6 x 2  3x 2 y  2  y  12 x  3x 2  6 xy    
dx dx dx 3x 2  1

(5) 
1  sec 2 y dydx  dydx  sec12 y  cos 2 y or
dy

1
2

1
dx 1  tan y 1  x 2

dy  dy  dy  sin( x  y )
(6)   sin( x  y ) 1    
dx  dx  dx 1  sin( x  y )
dy dy dy  sin y  y cos x
(7) x(cos y)  sin y  y cos x  (sin x) 0 
dx dx dx x cos y  sin x

(8)  
 dy 
1  3 sec 2 ( y 2  1) sec( y 2  1) tan( y 2  1)  2 y  
 dx 
dy
dx


1 1

3 2 2
6 y s e c ( y  1) t a ny(  1) 6 xy t a ny(2  1)

dy dy dy dy 1
A2. (1) 2x  6 y  0  2(3)  6(2)  0  6  12 0 
dx dx dx dx 2

 1  2 3  dy     dy
2 2  1  dy 2  1 
(2) 3x   y   0  3x    0  3(1)  0

3
 dx  33 y 2  dx  3 2
3 8
 dx

 

1 dy dy
3 0  36
12 dx dx
dy dy dy dy dy 4
(3) xy  ( y  2) 2  x  y  2( y  2) 1  4  4  
dx dx dx dx dx 3
dy dy dy dy
(4) 3x  3 y  8x 3  3 y 2  3(2)  3(3)  8(2 3 )  3(3) 2 
dx dx dx dx
dy dy dy  73
6  9  64  27  
dx dx dx 21
dy     dy 3 dy dy 2
(5) 1  ( sin y )  1   sin   1  
dx   3  dx 2 dx dx 3
 Cambridge Physics PhD Tutor IB DSE IGCSE SAT
UC Math MA, HKU Chemist hinwahk@gmail.com
HKU 1st Hons Engineer 93197825 AP MCAT GCE

  
1 cos 
 dy  dy 1  y cos( xy) dy 2 2 
(6) cos( xy)  x  y  1     x 1 
 dx  dx x cos( xy) dx   
y 1cos 
2 2

1 dy
 does not exist.
0 dx

x 3  4x 3y  2x 6x 2  3y 2 2x 2  y 2
A3. (i)  (ii) (iii) (iv) 
y 7  4y 2 y  3x 3 y 2  6 xy y y  2 x 

dy  x 1
A4. x 2 y 1  g r ad
dx 6 y 3

d y 3 2x  4 y 8 20
A5. x  2  y  1, 7  g r a d ,
dx 2 y  4x 3 3

2 x
1. Find the derivative of y
3x  1
7 6x  5 9 7
A. B. C. D.
(3x  1)2 (3x  1)2 (3x  1)2 (3x  1)2
7  6x
E.
(3x  1)2

dy
2. If y  sin 3 (1  2 x) , find .
dx
A. 3sin 2 (1  2 x) B. 2cos3 (1  2 x) C. 6sin 2 (1  2 x) D.

6cos2 (1  2 x) E. 6sin 2 (1  2 x) cos(1  2 x)

3. Find the derivative of y  2sin x  cos(2 x)

A. 2cos x  sin(2 x) B. 2sin(2 x)  cos(2 x) C. 2 cos x(1  2sin x)

D. 2sin x cos x E. 1  cos(2 x)

4. The equation of the tangent line to the curve y  x 2  4 x at the point where the curve crosses the y-axis is
A. y  8x  4 B. y  4 x C. y  4
D. y  4x E. y  4x  8
 Cambridge Physics PhD Tutor IB DSE IGCSE SAT
UC Math MA, HKU Chemist hinwahk@gmail.com
HKU 1st Hons Engineer 93197825 AP MCAT GCE

5. The slope of the curve y3  xy 2  4 at the point where y  2 is

A. –2 B. ¼ C. – ½ D. ½ E. 2

In problems 6 – 8, the motion of a particle on a straight line is given by s  t  6t  12t  8

3 2

6. The distance s is increasing for

A. t  2 B. all t C. 1 t  3 D. t  2 E. t  1 or t 3

7. The minimum value of the speed is

A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 0 E. none of these

8. The acceleration is positive

A. when t2 B. for all t except t2 C. when t2

D. for 1 t  3 E. for 1 t  2

9. If f ( x)  16 x , find f '''(4)
3
A. B. –4 C. – ½ D. 0 E. 6
16

10. Find the derivative of y  ln(sec x  tan x)

sec2 x 1 1
A. sec x B. cos x C. tan x  D. E.
tan x sec x  tan x sec x  tan x

dy
11. Find if ln( xy )  x  y
dx

y xy xy  y
A.  B. e x  y C. D. E. none of these
x 1  xy x  xy

sin x
12. Find lim
x 0 2x

A. ½ B. ¼ C. 2 D. 1 E. 0
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UC Math MA, HKU Chemist hinwahk@gmail.com
HKU 1st Hons Engineer 93197825 AP MCAT GCE

dy 1 x
13. Find if y  x
dx

 1 x 
A. (1  x) x  x B. x1 x   ln x  C. ( x  1) x  x
 x 
 1 
D. x1 x   E. none of these
 x 

Calculator Multiple Choice

14. Differentiable functions f and g have the values shown in the table below:

x f f’ g g’
2 5 3 1 -2
If h  f g , find h '(2)

A. –20 B. –7 C. –6 D. –1 E. 13

15. The side of a cube is measured to be 3 inches. If the measurement is correct to within 0.01 inches, use differentials

to estimate the propagated error in the volume of the cube.

A.  0.000001 in3 B.  0.06 in3 C.  0.027 in3

D.  0.27 in3 E.  0.006 in3

Answers: 1. A 2. E 3. C 4. B 5. D 6. B 7. D 8. A 9. A 10. A 11. D 12. A 13. B 14. B 15.