Applications of derivatives
Abdelrahman Amr El sayed , Muhannad Khaled Rabie
Under the supervision of : Mrs. Nadia Rakha
Keywords: derivative, application, maxima , Minima , rate of change
Introduction
There are several applications of derivatives not only in maths and real
life but also in other fields like science, engineering, physics, etc. In the
first and second learning-outcome , we have learned how to find the
derivative of various functions, like, trigonometric functions, implicit
functions, and logarithm functions.
Additionally, derivatives have various important applications in
Mathematics such as calculating:
 Rate of Change of a Quantity
 Increasing and Decreasing Functions
 Tangent and Normal to a Curve
 Minimum and Maximum Values
Applications of Derivatives in Maths
The derivative is defined as the rate of change of one quantity with
respect to another. In terms of functions, the rate of change of function is
defined as dy/dx = f(x) = y’. The concept of derivatives has been used in
small scale and large scale.
The concept of derivatives used in many ways such as change of
temperature or rate of change of shapes and sizes of an object depending
on the conditions etc.
Rate of Change of a Quantity
This is the general and most important application of
derivative. For example, to check the rate of change of the
volume of a cube with respect to its decreasing sides, we can
use the derivative form as dy/dx. Where dy represents the rate
of change of volume of cube and dx represents the change of
sides of the cube.
Increasing and Decreasing Functions
To find that a given function is increasing or decreasing or
constant, say in a graph, we use derivatives.
If f is a function which is continuous in [p, q] and differentiable
in the open interval (p, q), then,
 f is increasing at [p, q] if f'(x) > 0 for each x ∈ (p, q)
 f is decreasing at [p, q] if f'(x) < 0 for each x ∈ (p, q)
 f is constant function in [p, q], if f'(x)=0 for each x ∈ (p, q)
Menofia STEM school
We can take the following reaction as an example:
Maxima and Minima
To calculate the highest and lowest point of the curve in a graph or to know it
turning point, the derivative function is used.
When x = a, if f(x) ≤ f(a) for every x in the domain, then f(x) has an Absolute For instance, we can use derivative to calculate the final concentration of
Maximum value, and the point a is the point of the maximum value of f. NaCl
•Similarly, to measure the rate of chemical reactions and to check the
When x = a, if f(x) ≤ f(a) for every x in some open interval (p, q) then f(x) has contribution and loss of a compound during the reaction.
a Relative Maximum value.
The rate of reaction can be defined as the change of concentration over
time. This definition is very similar to that of derivative as we usually use
When x= a, if f(x) ≥ f(a) for every x in the domain then f(x) has an Absolute
derivative to calculate the rate of change of certain quantity. Therefore, we
Minimum value, and the point a is the point of the minimum value of f.
can use derivative to calculate the rate of chemical reactions.
When x = a, if f(x) ≥ f(a) for every x in some open interval (p, q) then f(x) has
a Relative Minimum value. In Physics:
The following figure illustrates the exact definitions of maxima and minima: •The derivative of the displacement of a moving body with respect
to time is the velocity of the body. “dx/dt=V(t)”
Real life applications of derivatives
•The derivative of velocity with respect to time is acceleration.
Derivatives is extremely useful in our everyday life. There are countless areas where
“dV/dt=a(t)”
derivatives can be used. Derivatives is not limited to mathematical problems; it has a
broad range of practical utility in our real life.
The uniqueness of derivative is its ability to evaluate the change in quantities. Whether
its speed, momentum, temperature and even the business speculations, all the variations
can be worked out using derivative.
Here are the most important areas where derivatives are used: • Newton’s second law of motion states that “the derivative of the
In Chemistry momentum of a body equals the force applied to the body”.
• One use of derivatives in chemistry is when you want to find the concentration of an
element in a product.
• As the concentration of an element is involved in a reaction, the change in
concentration can be predicted using derivative.