EDEXCEL IGCSE

MATHEMATICS
DIFFERENTIATION

Menuka Suwinda
BELVOIR COLLEGE INTERNATIONAL
 Differentiation
Differentiation of algebraic and trigonometric expressions can be used for calculating rates
of change, stationary points and their nature, or the gradient and equation of a tangent to a
curve.

1. Differentiating simple algebraic expressions

Differentiation is used in maths for calculating rates of change.

For example, in mechanics, the rate of change of displacement (with respect to time) is the
velocity. The rate of change of velocity (with respect to time) is the acceleration.

The rate of change of a function with respect to can be found by finding the derived
function .

For an equation beginning , the rate of change can be found by differentiating with

respect to . In its notation form this is written as . This is also known as 'Leibniz
Notation'.
There are many ways a question can ask you to differentiate:

• Differentiate the function...

• Find

• Find
• Calculate the rate of change of...
• Find the derivative of…
• Calculate the gradient of the tangent to the curve...

2. The general rule for differentiation is: (Power Rule)

𝒇(𝒙) = 𝒎𝒙𝒉 𝒇′ (𝒙) = 𝒎 × 𝒉 × 𝒙𝒉−𝟏

𝒇′ (𝒙) = 𝒎𝒉𝒙𝒉−𝟏
Where ‘m’ and ‘h’ are constants.

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EXAMPLES: -
1). Differentiate y = x8
Answer:
Here m=1 and h=8
⸫ y1 = 1× 8 × x (8-1) = 8 x 7

𝑑𝑦
2). If y = 9 x5, Find .
𝑑𝑥

Answer:
Here m = 9 and h = 5
⸫ y1 = 9× 5 × x (5-1) = 45 x4

3). If f(x) = - 8x -4 , Find f 1(x) .

Answer:
Here m = -8 and h = - 4
𝟑𝟐
⸫ f 1(x) = -8× −4 × x (-4 -1) = 32 x -5 =
𝒙𝟓

24
4). Find the derivative of
9𝑥 9
Answer:

Here we have to rearrange the expression as,

24 1 24
× 6= × 𝑥 −6
9 𝑥 9
24
⸫ here m = and h = - 6
9

24 −𝟏𝟔
⸫ answer = × −6 × 𝑥 −6−1 = −16 × 𝑥 −7 =
9 𝒙𝟕

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 3. Differentiation of f(x)= mxh ± sxy functions
f(x) = mxh ± sxy ,
f 1 (x) = m× 𝒉 × 𝒙h-1 ± s× 𝒚 × 𝒙y-1
f 1 (x) = mh xh-1± sy xy-1

EXAMPLES: -
𝑑𝑦
1). If, y= 2x8 + 4x6 , find .
𝑑𝑥

Answer:
𝑑𝑦
= 2 × 8 × 𝑥 8−1 + 4 × 6 × 𝑥 6−1 = 𝟏𝟔 𝒙𝟕 + 𝟐𝟒 𝒙𝟓
𝑑𝑥

2). Differentiate y = 9 x3-7 x5

Answer:
y1 = 9×3×x 3-1 - 7×5×x 5-1 = 27 x2 – 35 x4

4. Differentiation of a CONSTANT

As an example, differentiate y= 99
We can rearrange the equation ,
y = 99 × 1 y = 99 × x0 ; ( since x0 = 1)
⸫ y 1 = 99 ×0× 𝒙0-1 y1 = 0

⸫ differentiation of a CONSTANT = 0

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EXAMPLES: -
Differentiate the following functions

1). f(x) = 3x6 + 8x + 56

Answer:

f 1(x) = 3×6×x6-1 + 8×x1-1 + 0

f 1(x) = 18 x5 + 8 x0

f 1(x) = 18 x5+8

2). f(x) = 7x8 - 5x4 -499

Answer:

f 1(x) = 7×8×x7 - 5×4×x3 – 0

f 1(x) = 56x7 – 20x3

EXERCISE I

Differentiate following functions

1). f (x)= 3x3 + 8x4+4x7 – 3

2). f(x)= 9x6 – 7x4 -56
3). f(x) = 34- 4x- x3

4). f(x) = 49x4+34x-44

5). f(x) =5x6- 4x3+1

3 4 5 1
6). f(x)= + + +
𝑥 3𝑥 𝑥4 3

4
7). f(x) = + 4x4-44
3𝑥 4

1 4
8). f(x)= 𝑥 3 + √𝑥 − √𝑥 5 − 49
3

3 4 3
9). f(x) = + − 3 √𝑥 − √3
√𝑥 √𝑥 5

3 5𝑥
10). f(x) = − 4𝑥 −5 + +√3𝑥 −3
4𝑥 3 3

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 5. Equation of a TANGENT
We can calculate the gradient of a tangent to a curve by differentiating.
In order to find the equation of a tangent, we:

• Differentiate the equation of the curve

• Substitute the value into the differentiated equation to find the gradient
• Substitute the value into the original equation of the curve to find the y-
coordinate
• Substitute your point on the line and the gradient into

y - b = m (x-a)

where “a” is the given point’s x coordinate and

where “b” is the y coordinate

𝒅𝒚
✓ 𝒅𝒙 of a graph can be defined as the gradient (m) of the graph
✓ only linear graphs have constant gradient
✓ all other graphs have different gradients at different points

EXAMPLES: -

1). Find the equation of the tangent to the curve at the point
where .
Answer
First, we need to get the equation of the curve into the form we can differentiate.

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When ,

y-coordinate when ,

Equation of tangent when

Therefore, the equation of the tangent is

You can also use this method to find the point of contact of a tangent to a curve
when given the equation of the curve and the gradient of the tangent.

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2). Find the point of contact between the tangent and curve with
equation when the gradient is .
Answer
First of all, we need to differentiate the equation of the curve to get an expression
for the gradient.

Now, we would usually 'sub-in' the value to get the gradient, but this time we
don't know what is. We do know, however that the answer is , so we can set
this equal to the differentiated expression and solve the equation to find .

Now we can find the y-coordinate by substituting this into the original equation.

Therefore, the point of intersection is

6. Finding coordinates of STATIONARY POINTS

The stationary points of a function are important in describing how that function
works. Finding the stationary points of a function is a useful exercise as you can
use them in sketching the function or if you need to locate where the function
changes direction.

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The three types of stationary points are:
• a maximum
• a minimum
• a point of inflection

IMPORTANT
✓ stationary points are located where the gradient of the
function is equal to zero.
As the derivative of a function describes its gradient, you can use the derivative of
the function to find out information about any stationary point the function may
have. To find the location of any stationary points of a function you are looking at,
use the following steps:
𝒅𝒚
Step 1: Differentiate the function to find
𝒅𝒙

Step 2: Set the derivative equal to zero and solve the equation to find value(s)
for x.
In other words, the x-coordinates of any stationary points of your function are
the solutions of the equation:
𝒅𝒚
=𝟎
𝒅𝒙

Step 3: Substitute these values for x back into your original function to find the
corresponding y-coordinates.
✓ Locating stationary points requires a good working use of
differentiation.

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EXAMPLES
1). Find the location of the stationary points of the function y = x3-3x+2.
Step 1:
To solve this question, you must first find the derivative of the function, this tells
you about the gradient of the function. Using power rule for differentiation
𝑑𝑦
= 3x2-3
𝑑𝑥

Step 2:
Set this result, 3x2-3, equal to zero and solve the quadratic equation for x.
3x2-3 = 0
3(x2-1) = 0
3(x+1)(x-1) = 0
which gives solutions of x = −1 and x = 1. This means you have two stationary
points, one with an x-coordinate of 1 and the other with an x-coordinate of −1.
Step 3:
You can find the corresponding y-coordinates by substituting x = 1 and x = −1
respectively back into the original function. y = x3-3x+2
at x = 1, y = 13 -3(1) + 2 = 0
so, the y-coordinate is 0 and this gives a stationary point at (1,0).
At x= 1, y = (-1)3-3(-1)+2 = 4
so, the y-coordinate is 4 and this gives a stationary point at (−1,4).
So, the function y = x3-3x+2 has two stationary points at (1,0) and (−1,4).

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2). The curve with equation y = x3-6x2-15x has two stationary points
Work out the coordinates of these two stationary points
Step 1 :
Differentiate the equation
𝑑𝑦
= 3x2-12x-15
𝑑𝑥

Step :
Set the result , 3x2-12x-15 equal to zero and solve the quadratic equation for x.
3x2-12x-15= 0
x2-4x-5 = 0
(x+1)(x-5) = 0
which gives solutions of x = −1 and x = 5. This means you have two stationary
points, one with an x-coordinate of 5 and the other with an x-coordinate of −1.

Step 3 :
You can find the corresponding y-coordinates by substituting x = 5 and x = −1
respectively back into the original function. y = x3-6x2-15x
At x=5, y= (5)3-6(5)2-15(5) = -100
so, the y-coordinate is -100 and this gives a stationary point at (5,-100).
At x=-1 , y= (-1)3-6(-1)2-15(-1) = 8
so, the y-coordinate is 8 and this gives a stationary point at (-1,8).
So, the function y = x3-3x+2 has two stationary points at (5,-100)and (−1,8).

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EXERCISE
1.Text Book page number 380 Exercise 2* – All questions
2. Text Book page number 384 Exercise 3* - All questions
3. Text book page number 387-388 Exercise 4* - All questions

❖ Relationships between DISPLACMENT(s) , VELOCITY (v),

ACCELERATION(a), TIME (t)
𝑑𝑠
i). = velocity
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑣
ii). = acceleration
𝑑𝑡

EXAMPLE : -
1). The displacement , “s”meters of a particle after “t” seconds from fixed point
O is given by
s = 10t2-3t+1
after a time of 3 seconds find the particle’s
a). velocity in m/s
Answer
𝑑𝑠 𝑑𝑠
=Velocity , =20t – 3
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

When t = 3 s , v= 20(3) – 3 = 60-3 = 57 m/s

Velocity = 57 m/s

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b). Acceleration in m/s2
Answer
Since velocity = 20t-3
𝑑𝑣 𝑑𝑣
= acceleration, = 20
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

a=20 m/s2
acceleration = 20 m/s2

EXERCISE III
1). Text book page number 390 exercise 5 – All questions
2). Text book page number 39 exercise 6 – All questions

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