MTH 251: Week 2 lab write up

C. M. Hughes
December 30, 2020

Lab activity 1.2.4

Find the difference quotient of f (x) when f (x) = x3 .
We proceed as demonstrated in the lab manual; assuming that h 6= 0 we have

f (x + h) − f (x) (x + h)3 − x3
=
h h
x + 3x2 h + 3xh2 + h3 − x3
3
=
h
3x2 h + 2xh2 + h3
=
h
h(3x2 + 2xh + h2 )
=
h
= 3x2 + 2xh + h2

Lab activity 2.3.4

1
Use the definition of the derivative to find f 0 (x) when f (x) = x 4 .
Using the definition of the derivative, we have

(x + h)1/4 − x1/4
f 0 (x) = lim
h→0 h
(x + h) − x1/4 ((x + h)1/4 + x1/4 )((x + h)1/2 + x1/2 )
1/4
= lim ·
h→0 h ((x + h)1/4 + x1/4 )((x + h)1/2 + x1/2 )
(x + h) − x
= lim
h→0 h((x + h)1/4 + x1/4 )((x + h)1/2 + x1/2 )
1
= lim 1/4
h→0 ((x + h) + x )((x + h)1/2 + x1/2 )
1/4

1
= 1/4
(x + x1/4 )(x1/2 + x1/2 )
1
=
(2x1/4 )(2x1/2 )
1
= 3/4
4x
1 −3/4
= x
4
Note: the key observation here is that

a4 − b4 = (a2 − b2 )(a2 + b2 )
= (a − b)(a + b)(a2 + b2 ),

with
a = (x + h)1/4 , b = x1/4 ,
which allowed us to rationalize the denominator.