DIFFERENTIATION APPLICATIONS

Equation of a straight line

The basic equation of a straight line is y  mx  c
y dy
where m  gradient   , c = intercept on real y-axis
x dx
dy
Note: if the scales of x and y are identical,  tan 
dx

Fig 2.6

It is more convenient to use the form:

y  y1  m x  x1 
m – gradient of a straight line
x1 , y1  - point on the line

Let p and q are two straight lines given by the equations:

p : y  a1 x  b1
q : y  a2 x  b2
-If a1  a2 then p and q are parallel lines
-If a1a2  1 then p and q are perpendicular to each other

89
Tangents and normals to a curve at a given point

Fig 2.7

The equation of the tangent to a curve y  f x  at the point Px1 , y1  on the curve is:
y  y1  mx  x1 
 dy 
m -gradient of the tangent at point P  m  
 dx 

The equation of the normal to a curve y  f x  at the point Px1 , y1  on the curve is:

y  y1    x  x1 
1
m
1  dy 
 -gradient of the normal at point P  m  
m  dx 

Finding angle between two intersecting curves

Definition:The angle between two intersecting curves is the angle between their tangents
at the point of intersection.
Let k1 and k 2 are two curves with point of intersection P . Let m1 and m2 are the
gradients of the tangents to the curves k1 and k 2 , at point P , respectively. Then, for the
angle  between the curves k1 and k 2 we have:
  tan 1 m1  tan 1 m2 .

90
 1
1. Find the equation of the line passing through the point P (-2,5) with gradient  .
3
Solution:
y 5  
1
x   2  y  5   1 x  2  y   1 x  2  5  y   1 x  13
3 3 3 3 3 3
1 13
So, the equation of the line is y   x  .
3 3

1 
2. Find the equation of the line passing through the points P 1, 3 and Q ,  2  .
3 
Solution:
For the value of the gradient of the line we have:
dy  2  3  5 15
m   
  1
dx 1 4 4
3 3
So, the equation of the line is: y  3   x  1 i.e. y   x  .
15 15 3
4 4 4
Remark:In this case, we used the coordinates of the point P in the equation of the line.
The result remains the same if, instead P , we use Q .
15 1 
Namely, the equation of the line with gradient m   , passing through Q ,  2  is:
4 3 
15  1 15 3
y  2    x   i.e. y   x  .
4 3 4 4

 1
3. Find the equation of the line passing through the point P 5,  
 2
1
a) Parallel to the line p : y  x  11
3
b) Perpendicular to the line q : 3x  7 y  1  0
Solution:
a) y    x  5 or y  x 
1 1 1 13
2 3 3 6
3 1
b) The equation of the line q in explicit form is: y  x  . Now, for the equation of the
7 7
 1
line passing through the point P 5,   and perpendicular to the line q , we have:
 2

y    x  5 i.e. y   x 
1 1 7 67
.
2 3 3 6
7
91
4. Find the equation of the line passing through the point P1,2
a) parallel to the x-axis
b) parallel to the y-axis
Solution:
a) y  2 , b) x  1

5. Find the equations of the tangent and normal to the parabola y  x 2 at the point x  1.
Solution:
 dy 
Since y 1  1;
dy
 2 x and m     2 , it follows that:
dx  dx  x 1
-the equation of the tangent is y  1  2x  1 , that is y  2 x  1

-the equation of the normal is y  1    x  1 , that is y   x  .

1 1 3
2 2 2

6. Find the equations of the tangent and normal to the curve y  x 3  3x 2  2 x  1 at the
point P2,1 .
Solution:
dy
The derivative is:  3x 2  6 x  2
dx
 dy 
The gradient of tangent at P(2,1) is: m     3  2 2  6  2  2  2
 dx  P
The equation of the tangent which passes through P is: y  1  2x  2 i.e. y  2 x  3 .

For the normal,

m  gradient of normal  
1 1

m 2
The equation of the normal which passes through the point P is: y  1  
1
x  2 i.e
2
1
y   x2.
2

92
 1  1
7. Find the equations of the tangent and normal to the curve y  at the point P 3,  .
 9
2
x
Solution:
dy 2
The derivative is:  3
dx x
 1  dy  2 2
The gradient of tangent at P 3,  is: m      3  
 9  dx  P 3 27

The equation of the tangent is: y    x  3 or y   x  .

1 2 2 1
9 27 27 3

For the normal,

1 1 27
m     
m 2 2

27
The equation of the normal is: y 
1 27
 x  3 i.e. y  27 x  727 .
9 2 2 18

at the point 3, 0.6 and the

2x
8. Find the equation of the tangent to the curve y 
x 12

equation of the normal at the origin.

Solution:
The derivative is: 
 
dy 2 x 2  1  2 x  2 x 2  2 x 2
 
2 1 x2  
dx x2 1 2
 x2 1 2

x2 1
2
 
 dy  21  3 
2
The gradient of tangent at 3, 0.6 is: m   
16
   0,16
 dx  3, 0.6  3  1 100
2 2

The equation of the tangent at 3, 0.6 is: y  0,6  0,16x  3 or y  0,16x  1,08 .

 dy  21  0 2 
The gradient of tangent at the origin is: m1     2
 dx  O 0 2  1
2

1 1
The gradient of normal at the origin is: m1,      0,5 .
m1 2
So, the equation of normal to the curve, at the origin, is: y  0,5 x .

93
 10
9. Find the equations of the tangent and normal to the curve y 2  11  at the point
4 x
6, 4 .
Solution:
First, we have to find the derivative of y :
10 dy 0  4  x   10   1 dy 10 dy 5
y 2  11   2y   2y    .
4 x dx 4  x  2
dx 4  x 2
dx y4  x 
2

 dy 
The gradient of the tangent at 6, 4 is: m   
5 5
 
 dx  6, 4  4  4  6 
2
16

The equation of the tangent at 6, 4 is y  4   x  6 or written in explicit form

5
16
5 47
y x .
16 8

For the normal,

1 16
m   
m 5
The equation of the normal is: y  4 
16
x  6 i.e. y  16 x  76 .
5 5 5

10. If 2 x 2  y 2  6 y  9 x  0 , determine the equations of the tangent and normal to the

curve at the point  5,1

Solution:
Differentiating the both sides of 2 x 2  y 2  6 y  9 x  0 , we have:
dy dy dy dy 9  4 x
2 x2  y 2  6 y  9 x  0  4 x  2 y  6  9  0   2 y  6  9  4 x  
dx dx dx dx 2 y  6
 dy  9  4  5 11
The gradient of the tangent at  5,1 : m     
 dx 5,1 2 1  6 4
11 11 51
The equation of the tangent at  5,1 is y  1   x  5 , that is y  x 
4 4 4
1 4
The gradient of the tangent at  5,1 : m    
m 11
4 4 31
The equation of the normal at  5,1 is y  1    x  5  , that is y   x  .
11 11 11

94
11. The parametric equations of a function are x  2 cos3  , y  2 sin 3  . Find the equation

of the normal at the point for which    45 .
4
Solution:
  2  2 
For    45 , x  2 cos3  , y  2 sin 3  . So, the value    45
4 4 2 4 2 4
 2 2 
corresponds to the point P , .

 2 2 
dy
dy d 2  3 sin 2   cos sin 
The derivative of the function y is      tan  .
dx dx  2  3 cos   sin  2
cos
d
 dy  
The gradient of the tangent to the curve is m      tan  1 . The gradient of the
 dx  P 4
1 2 2
normal is m     1 . The equation of the normal at P is y   x , that is
m 2 2
y  x.

12. If x  1  sin 2t , y  1  cos t  cos 2t , find the equation of the tangent at t  60 .
Solution:
3 1 1
For t  60 , x  1  sin120  1  , y  1  cos 60  cos120  1    1 . So, the
2 2 2
 3 
value t  60 corresponds to the point Q1  ,1 .
 2 
dy
dy dt  sin t  2 sin 2t sin t  2 sin 2t
   .
dx dx 2 cos 2t 2 cos 2t
dt
 3 
The gradient of the tangent to the curve at Q1  ,1 is:
 2 
3 3
2
 dy  sin 60  2 sin120
 
2 3 3
m    2
 dx  Q 2 cos120 
 1 2
2 
 2
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 5
The equation of the tangent is y  1   x 1  i.e. y  x  .

2  
2  2 2 4

95
13. Find the equation of the tangent to the curve y  x 2  2 which is parallel to the line
y  x  2.
Solution:
 2 x . The equation of the tangent to the curve y  x 2  2 at arbitrary point  x0 , y 0  is:
dy
dx
y  y 0  2 x0 x  x0  , that is y  2 x0 x  2  x02 . Because the tangent is parallel to the line
1 7
y  x  2 , it follows that 2 x0  1 i.e. x0  . So, the equation of the tangent is y  x  .
2 4

14. Find the equation of the normal to the curve y  x  2 at the point of intersection of
the curve and the line y  x .
Solution:
First, we have to find the point of intersection which is equivalent to finding the solution of
y  x  2
the system  .
 yx

y  x  2 x  x  2  x 2  x  2  x 2  x  2  0  x1  2; x 2  1
    
 yx  yx  yx  yx  y1  2; y 2  1

Pair 2, 2 is a solution of the system because its coordinates satisfy both equations.
Ordered pair  1,  1 is not a solution because its coordinates don’t satisfy the equation
y x  2 (  1   1  2 ).

So, the curve y  x  2 intersects with the line y  x only at the point 2, 2 (in the
further work denoted by P ).
dy 1  dy  1
Since  , it follows that the gradient of the tangent at P is m     .
dx 2 x  2  dx  P 4
1
The gradient of the normal at P is m    4 and the equation of the normal to the
m
curve at P is y  2  4x  2 , that is y  4 x  10 .

96
15. Find a point on the parabola y  x 2  2 x  1 such that the normal to the parabola at that
point is parallel to the line x  2 y  3  0 .
Solution:
dy
y  x 2  2x  1   2x  2
dx
1 3
The equation of the line x  2 y  3  0 in explicit form is y   x  .
2 2

The equation of the normal at arbitrary point  x0 , y 0  on the parabola is:

y  y0  
1
x  x0  , that is y  x02  2 x0  1   1 x  x0  , or written
 dy  2 x0  2
 
 dx   x0 , y0 
1  x0 
in explicit form: y   x    x02  2 x0  1 .
2 x0  2  2 x0  2 
1 3 1 1
Because the normal is parallel to the line y   x  , it follows that  
2 2 2 x0  2 2
i.e. x 0  2 . The value of the function for x 0  2 is y0  2 2  2  2  1  1. The equation of

the normal to the parabola at the point 2,1 is y   x  2 and you can notice that this
1
2
normal is parallel to the line y   x  . So, 2,1 is the point we are searching for.
1 3
2 2

16. Find the angle between the curves x 2  y 2  4 and 5 x 2  y 2  5 at their point of
intersection for which x and y are positive.
Solution:
 x2  y2  4
The coordinates x and y of the point of intersection satisfy the system  2 .
 5 x  y 2
 5
 x y 4
2 2
 y  4 x
2 2
 y  4 x
2 2
 y  15 4
2
 y   15 2
 2  2   2 
5x  y  5 5 x  4  x   5  4x  1  x 1 4  x  1 2
2 2 2

 1 15   1 15   1 15   1 15 
So, there are four points of intersection  , ,  , 
 2
,   ,
 2 2  2
,   ,  ,

 2 2  2   2 
 1 15 
but we are interested only about  , .

 2 2 
Let m1 and m2 are the gradients of the tangents to x 2  y 2  4 and 5 x 2  y 2  5 at the
 1 15 
point  ,  , respectively.

 2 2 
97
Since
dy dy x
x 2  y 2  4  2x  2 y 0 
dx dx y
and
dy dy 5x
5 x 2  y 2  5  10x  2 y 0  ,
dx dx y
It follows that:
1 1
5
15 15
m1   2   and m2   2   .
15 15 15 3
2 2
Finally,
for the angle  between the curves x 2  y 2  4 and 5 x 2  y 2  5 we have:
 15   15 
  tan 1 m1  tan 1 m2  tan 1     tan 1     tan 1  0,258  tan 1  1,29
  3 
 15  
  14,47   52,22  37,75.

98