CHAPTER III

DIFFERENTIATION

Fig 2.1

The gradient of the sloping straight line is defined as:

the vertical distancethe line rises or falls between two points P and Q
the horizontal distancebetweenP and Q
Where (f 2.1)
P - point to the left of point Q on the straight line AB which slopes upwards from left to right
∆x - change in the x-values of the points P and Q
∆y - change in the y-values of the points P and Q

y
The gradient of this line is:
x
( We could have chosen any pair of points on the straight line for P and Q and by similar triangles this ratio
would have worked out to the same value, so the conclusion is that The gradient of a straight line is constant
throughout its length)

y
The value of the gradient is denoted by the symbol m. Therefore: m  .
x

-Lines going up to the right have a positive gradient

-Lines going down to the right have a negative gradient

64
Consider the function f(x) illustrated in Fig. 2.2.1

Fig 2.2.1
A segment of the curve y  f  x  , AB, between x  x0 and x  x0  x is shown. The
derivative of y  f  x  at x  x0 is defined as:

dy f  x0  x   f  x0 
 lim
dx x 0 x
Note that when ∆x is very small, the curve AB is almost identical to the straight line AB and
f  x0  x   f  x0 
that as ∆x →0, the two become identical. We saw that is the gradient of
x
the line AB. As ∆x →0 the line AB becomes parallel to the curve y = f(x) at x  x0 . Then we
call AB the tangent line to the curve. Thus
dy
 gradient of the tangent to the curve y = f(x).
dx
The gradient of a curve at point P is equal to the gradient of the tangent to the curve at P.
(f 2.2.2)

Fig 2.2.1 (Tangent to the curve at point P)

65
-The quantities dx and dy are called differentials
dy
- - derivative of y with respect to x
dx
- The process of finding the derivative- differentiation (because it involves manipulating
differences in coordinate values)

Derivatives of Some Specific Functions

(i) y  c , a constant.
dy f  x  x   f  x 
 lim
dx x 0 x
cc
 lim
x 0 x

 0.

(ii) y  x
dy f  x  x   f  x 
 lim
dx x  0 x

 lim
 x  x   x
x 0 x
x
 lim
x 0 x

 1.

(iii) y  x 2
dy f  x  x   f  x 
 lim
dx x 0 x
 x  x   x2
2

 lim
x  0 x
2 xx   x 
2

 lim
x  0 x
 lim  2 x  x 
x  0

 2 x.

66
(iv) y  x 3
dy f  x  x   f  x 
 lim
dx x 0 x
 x  x   x3
3

 lim
x  0 x
3 x 2 x  3 x  x    x 
2 3

 lim
x  0 x

x  0

 lim 3 x  3 x  x    x 
2 2

 3x 2 .

1
(v) y 
x
dy f  x  x   f  x 
 lim
dx x 0 x
1  1 1
 lim   
x  0 x x  x
 x
1  x   x  x  
 lim  
x  0 x  x  x  x  
 
1  x 
 lim  
x  0 x  x  x  x  
 
 1 
 lim  
x  0 x  x  x  
 
1
 2.
x

(vi) A more general case of the above: y  x n .

dy
 nx n 1 .
dx

(vii) y  a x , a  0
dy f  x  x   f  x 
 lim
dx x 0 x
x x
a  ax
 lim
x 0 x
a x  1
 a x lim
x 0 x
 a ln a.
x

67
(viii) y  ln x .
There’s a trick for this one, because we know that the logarithm is the inverse of an
exponential. We use
dy 1
 .
dx dx
dy
dx dy 1
From x  e y , one has  e y  x . So,  .
dy dx x
The same trick can be used to differentiate all inverse functions.

(ix) y  sin x
dy f  x  x   f  x 
 lim
dx x  0 x
sin  x  x   sin x
 lim
x  0 x
sin x cos x  cos x sin x  sin x
 lim
x  0 x
 cos x  1 sin x 
 lim  sinx  cos x 
x  0
 x x 
 2sin 2  x / 2  sin x 
 lim  sinx  cos x 
x  0
 x x 
 x sinx  sin  x / 2  2 sin x 
 lim      cos x 
x  0  2   x / 2   x 
 
 cos x.

In this way, using some well known limits, we can obtain the derivatives of all basic
functions.

Standard derivatives
dy dy
1. y  c 0 2. y  x n  nx n 1
dx dx
dy dy
3. y  sin x  cos x 4. y  cos x   sin x
dx dx
dy dy
5. y  tan x  sec2 x 6. y  cot x   cos ec 2 x
dx dx
dy dy
7. y  ex  ex 8. y  ax  a x ln a
dx dx
dy 1 dy 1
9. y  ln x  10. y  log a x 
dx x dx x  ln a
dy dy
11. y  sinh x  cosh x 12. y  cosh x  sinh x
dx dx

68
-To differentiate a polynomial, we differentiate each term in turn

d n y d  d n 1 y 
- n   n 1  ( Derivatives of higher order )
dx dx  dx 

-Rules of derivatives:
dy dv du
(a) of product y  uv, u v
dx dx dx
du dv
v u
u dy
(b) of a quotient y ,  dx 2 dx
v dx v

-Differentiation of a function of a function:

dy dy du
  (chain rule)
dx du dx

If F is a function of x, then:
dy dF dy dF
1. y  F n  nF n 1  2. y  aF n  anF n 1 
dx dx dx dx
dy dF dy dF
3. y  sin F  cos F  4. y  cos F   sin F 
dx dx dx dx
dy dF dy dF
5. y  tan F  sec2 F  6. y  e F  eF 
dx dx dx dx
dy dF dy 1 dF
7. y  a F  a F  ln a  8. y  ln F  
dx dx dx F dx
………………………………… …………………………………..

-Logarithmic differentiation
For more than two functions in any argument top or bottom, the derivative is best found by
logarithmic differentiation. It all depends on the basic fact that:
d
ln x  1 or d ln F   1 dF
dx x dx F dx

69
-Derivative of implicit function
If a function y is completely defined in terms of x, then y is called an explicit function of x
(Example: y  x 2  4 x  2 )
When the relationship between x and y is more involved, it may not be possible (or desirable)
to separate y completely on the LHS. Then y is called an implicit function of x
(Example: xy  sin x  2 )
To find derivative of a implicit function means an extension of the routine ‘function of a
function’.

Differentiation of parametric equations

In some cases it is more convenient to represent a function by expressing x and y separately in
term of a third independent variable. Any value we give to t will produce a pair of values for x
and y. The third variable, eg. t, is called a parameter. The two expressions for x and y are
called parametric equations.

If x  xt , y  yt  ( x, y are functions of t) then:

dy dy dt dy dx
i)   
dx dt dx dt dt
dx d 2 y dy d 2 x
 2   2
d y d  dy  d  dy
2
dx  d  dy dx  dt dt dt dt dt
ii)        
dx 2 dx  dx  dx  dt dt  dt  dt dt  dx dx dt 3

70
1.Determine the gradients of the straight lines joining:
a) P 3, 8 and Q 5, 9 c) P  4, 6 and Q 5, 2
b) P 2, 5 and Q 5, 5 d) P  3, 5 and Q 7,  3
Solution:

a) P 3, 8 and Q 5, 9

Fig 2.3
y  the change in the y-values  9  8  1
x  the change in the x-values  5  3  2
y 1
m   0,5 (the sloping line rises vertically from left to right by 0,5 unit for every 1
x 2
unit horizontally)

b) P 2, 5 and Q 5, 5

0
y  5  5  0; x  5  2  3; m  0
3
( In this case the straight line is parallel to x-axis, Fig 2.4)

3 Series1

0
0 2 4 6 8 10

Fig 2.4
71
c) P  4, 6 and Q 5, 2
4
y  2  6  4; x  5   4   9; m  
9
4
(the sloping line falls down vertically from left to right by unit for every 1 unit
9
horizontally, Fig 2.5 )

Fig 2.5

d) P  3, 5 and Q 7,  3
8
y  3  5  8; x  7   3  10; m    0,8
10

dy dy
2. Determine an expression for in each of the following cases and find the value of at
dx dx
the stated value of x :
a) y  7 x 5  3x 4  x 2  1 x  2
b) y  6 x 3  7 x 2  4 x  5 x  1
Solution:
dy dy
a)  35x 4  12x 3  2 x . At x  2,  652
dx dx
dy dy
b)  18x 2  14 x  4 . At x  1,  36
dx dx

72
 dy
3. Differentiate (Determine ) the following with respect to x :
dx
b
a) y  x 3 b) y  4ax 5 c) y  4 d) y  23 x
x
5 3
x 2x 1 1 1
e) y  3x 2  5 x  1 f) y   x g) y   2  3
5 3 x x x
h) y  x 2  1x  1 i) y  ln x  2  5 x  sin x j) y  e  x  1
x 5

k) y  3 x  6 x l) y  x 2  x  3x 2  sin x  m) y  x sin x

n) y  e x  2 x  2
x 2
o) y  e sin x  cos x 
x
p) y  x 3 2 x  sin x  cot x
x 1
q) y  x cos x r) y  x 2  1x  1x 3  1 s) y 
x 1
1 x  x2 cos x tan x 1 cos x
t) y  u) y  2  v) y  
1 x  x 2
x x ln x 1  2 sin x
x
w) y   x ln x  x 2 sin x
sin x  cos x
Solution:
dy
a) y  x 3  3x 2
dx
dy
b) y  4ax 5  4a  5 x 4  20ax 4
dx
c) y 4
b dy d
dx dx
  
bx  4  b 4x 5  4bx 5
x
d) y  23 x
dy d

dx dx
 
1
3
2
2 x1 3  2   x1 31  x  2 3
3
dy
e) y  3x 2  5 x  1  6x  5
dx
x5 2x3 dy 1 2
f) y  x   5 x 4   3x 2  1  x 4  2 x 2  1
5 3 dx 5 3
g)
1 1
y  2  3
x x
1 dy d 1
dx dx
   1 2 3
x  x  2  x 3   x  2  2 x 3  3 x  4   2  3  4
x x x x
h) y  x 2  1x  1

Applying the product rule we find that:

dy
dx
 
 2 xx  1  x 2  1  3x 2  2 x  1

dy 1
i) y  ln x  2  5 x  sin x   2  5 x ln 5  cos x
dx x
dy
j) y  e x  x 5  1  e x  5x 4
dx

k) y  3 x  6 x
dy d

dx dx
 
3 x  6 x 1 2  3  3 x 3 2

l) y  x 2  x  3x 2  sin x 

73
   2 x  1  x 2  sin x    x 2  x  3  2 x  cos x 
dy
dx
 2 x3  x 2  2 x sin x  sin x  2 x 3  2 x 2  6 x  x 2 cos x  x cos x  3cos x
 4 x3  3x 2  6 x  sin x  2 x sin x  3cos x  x cos x  x 2 cos x
dy
m) y  x sin x  sin x  x cos x
dx
n) y  e x x 2  2 x  2
 e x x 2  2 x  2   e x 2 x  2  x 2 e x  2 xe x  2e x  2 xe x  2e x  x 2 e x
dy
dx

o) y  e x sin x  cos x   e x sin x  cos x   e x cos x  sin x   2e x sin x

dy
dx
p) y  x 3 2 x  sin x  cot x
dy cos2 x 1
 3x 2 2 x  x 3 2 x ln 2  cos x  cot x  sin x  cos ec 2 x  3x 2 2 x  x 3 2 x ln 2  
dx sin x sin x

q) y  x cos x 
dx dx
x cos x  
dy d 1 2 cos x
 x  sin x
2 x

r) y  x 2  1x  1x 3  1
 2 x x  1x 3  1  x 2  1x 3  1  3x 2 x 2  1 x  1... …….
dy
dx
x 1
s) y 
x 1
Applying the quotient rule we find that:
dy  x  1   x  1 2
 
dx x  1 2
x  12
1 x  x2
t) y 
1 x  x2
dy

   
1  2 x  1  x  x 2  1  x  x 2  1  2 x 
1  x  x 
2
dx 2

1  2 x  x  2 x 2  x 2  2 x3  1  x  x 2  2 x  2 x 2  2 x3 4 x  2
 
1  x  x  1  x  x 
2 2
2 2

cos x tan x
u) y  
x2 x

dx dx
x cos x  x 1 2 tan x   2 x 3 cos x  x  2 sin x  x 3 2 tan x  x 1 2 sec2 x
dy d  2 1
2

74
 1 cos x
v) y  
ln x 1  2 sin x
dy 1 x  sin x 1  2sin x   2 cos x sin x  2sin 2 x  2 cos 2 x
2
1
 2    
1  2sin x  1  2sin x 
2 2
dx ln x x ln 2 x
1 sin x  2
 
x ln x 1  2sin x 2
2

x
w) y   x ln x  x 2 sin x
sin x  cos x
dy  sin x  cos x   x  cos x  sin x   1
   ln x  x    2 x sin x  x 2 cos x
 sin x  cos x   x
2
dx
sin x  cos x  x sin x  x cos x
  ln x  1  2 x sin x  x 2 cos x
 sin x  cos x 
2

dy
4. Differentiate (Determine ) the following with respect to x :
dx
a) y  a  bx  b) y  ax 2  bx  c 
n
c) y  sin 2 x
3

d) y  2 ln 5 x e) y  e  x f) y  e x 2 x 3
2

g) y  e sin x h) y  a tan x i) y  e 2 ln x

k) y  lnx 3  x 2  x  1
x
j) y  ln l) y  sin n x
a
a
m) y  a sin n) y  cos x o) y  cos 2 x
x
p) y  tanln x  q) y  lntan x  r) y  lnln x 

Solution:

a) y  a  bx 
3

Put u  a  bx  y  u 3
 3u 2  b  3ba  bx
dy dy du dy
 
2
Since the chain rule , it follows that
dx du dx dx

b) y  ax 2  bx  c 
n

Put u  ax 2  bx  c  y  u n
 n  u n 1  2ax  b   n2ax  b ax 2  bx  c 
dy dy du n 1
 
dx du dx

c) y  sin 2 x
Put u  sin x  y  u 2
dy dy du
   2u cos x  2 sin x cos x  sin 2 x
dx du dx

75
d) y  2 ln 5 x
Put u  ln x  y  2u 5
dy dy du 1 10 ln 4 x
   10u 4  
dx du dx x x

e) y  e  x
Put u   x  y  e u
 e u   1  e  x
dy dy du
 
dx du dx

f) y  e x 2 x 3
2

Put u  x 2  2 x  3  y  e u
 e u  2 x  2   2 x  2 e x  2 x 3
dy dy du
 
2

dx du dx

g) y  e sin x
Put u  sin x  y  e u
dy dy du
   e u  cos x  cos x  e sin x
dx du dx

h) y  a tan x
Put u  tan x  y  a u
dy dy du
   a u ln a  sec2 x  ln a  a tan x sec2 x
dx du dx

i) y  e 2 ln x
dy
y  e 2 ln x  e ln x  x 2   2x
2

dx

x
j) y  ln
a
x
Put u   y  ln u
a
dy dy du 1 1 1 1
     
dx du dx u a x x
a
a

k) y  lnx 3  x 2  x  1
Put u  x 3  x 2  x  1  y  ln u
3x 2  2 x  1
  3x 2  2 x  1  3
dy dy du 1
 
dx du dx u x  x2  x 1

76
l) y  sin n x
Put u  sin x  y  u n
dy dy du
   n  u n 1  cos x  n sin n 1 cos x
dx du dx
a
m) y  a sin
x
a
Put u   y  a sin u
x
dy dy du  a  a 2 cosa x 
   a cosu    2   
dx du dx  x  x2

n) y  cos x
Put u  x  y  cos u

  sin u  
dy dy du 1 sin x
  
dx du dx 2 x 2 x

o) y  cos 2 x
Put u  2 x  y  cos u
  sin u   2  2 sin 2 x
dy dy du
 
dx du dx

p) y  tanln x 
Put u  ln x  y  tan u
dy dy du 1 sec2 ln x 
   sec2 u  
dx du dx x x

q) y  lntan x 
Put u  tan x  y  ln u
dy dy du 1 sec2 x
   sec x 
2

dx du dx u tan x

r) y  lnln x 
Put u  ln x  y  ln u
dy dy du 1 1 1
    
dx du dx u x x ln x

77
 dy
5. Differentiate (Determine ) the following with respect to x :
dx
1 x x2
a) y  b) y  x 1  x 2 c) y  ln
1 x 1 x2
1 x
f) y  e  x sin x  cos x 
x
d) y  ln e) y 
1 x 1 x 2

 
x
e e
x
x
g) y  h) y  x 2  2 x  tan  ln sin x
e x  e x 1 x2

Solution:
1 x
a) y 
1 x
1 x
Put u   y u
1 x
dy dy du 1 1  x    11  x  1 x 2 1 1
       
dx du dx 2 u 1  x 2
2 1  x 1  x 
2
1  x  1  x 
3
1  x 1  x 3

b) y  x 1  x 2
dy
 1 x2  x
d
 
1 x2  1 x2  x 
x

 

1  x 2  x 2 1  2x 2
dx dx 1 x2 1 x2 1 x2
dz dz du 1 x x
( z  1  x 2 ; Put u  1  x 2  z  u ;     2x   )
dx du dx 2 u u 1 x2

x2
c) y  ln
1 x2
x2
Put u   y  ln u
1 x2
dy dy du 1 2 x1  x 2   x 2  2 x  1  x 2  2x 2
      
dx du dx u 1  x 2 2
x 2
1  x 2  x1  x 2 
2

1 x
d) y  ln
1 x
1 x
Put u  ; v  u  y  ln v
1 x
dy dy dv du 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 x
           
dx dv du dx v 2 u 1  x  2
u u 1 x2  
2

u 1 x 
2 2
1  x 1  x 2 1  x 2
1

1  x 3 1  x 

78
 x
e) y 
1 x2

1  x 2  x 
x 
 1 x2  x2
 

dy  1 x2  1 x2 1
 
dx 1 x2 1 x2 1  x  2 3

f) y  e  x sin x  cos x 
 e  x sin x  cos x   e  x cos x  sin x   2e  x cos x
dy
dx

e x  ex
g) y 
e x  e x
dy

 2
 
e x  ex  e x  ex 
2


e 2x
 
 2e x e  x  e 2 x  e 2 x  2e x e  x  e 2 x  4
dx e x
e 
x 2
e x
e x 2
 e x
 ex 2

h) y  x 2  2 x  tan
x

 ln sin x 
1 x2
1 x2  x
 x 
dy 1 1 x2 1 1
dx
 2 x  2 x  x 2  2 x ln 2 
cos2 x / 1  x 2 

 1 x 2

sin x
 cos x 
2 x
1 1 cot x
 x  2 x 1  x 2  2 x ln 2 

cos2 x / 1  x 2  1  x  1  x

2 2

2 x

79