Understanding the Second Derivative of a Parametric

dy
Think about what the first derivative of a standard function ( ) means. The dx means a very
dx
tiny change in x. The dy means a very tiny change in some function defined by y. Therefore,
given these definitions, the following forms are all equivalent.

f ( x )= y =x 2−x+ 1

df ( x) dy d ( x2 −x+1 )
= =
dx dx dx

Although of course the 1st and 3rd are not as commonly used, that does not mean that they are
incorrect.
d2 y
With that in mind let me introduce the notation of the second derivative: . If you are
dx 2
dy
wondering where that comes from, remember what we just did. If is the function that you are
dx
dy
trying to take the derivative of, it follows that you would do so in the following manner: ( )
d
dx ,
dx
dy
which is read as a tiny change in the function divided by a tiny change in x, or in other
dx
dy
words, the derivative of . The next step makes sense mathematically, but when considering
dx
dy
what each symbol means, it does not. Since the numerator is d ( )
dx
, theoretically you could

d2 y
distribute the d, creating a strange looking term in the numerator. You are probably
dx
wondering why the d does not cancel out with the d in dx. The reason for this is the d that is
being distributed is a tiny change in some function, just as the d in dy is (while the d in the
numerator is a tiny change in x). Now you can multiply the denominator with this term to get
d2 y 1 d2 y
∙ = . As I was saying earlier, it does not make sense to have a d 2 considering d is
dx dx dx 2
essentially the same thing as ∆or some other symbol. This is, however, correct because although
it was mathematically derived, it is intended to simply be notation.
Now we delve into the world of parametric derivatives. The first derivative is simple enough to
dx dy dy
understand. You must calculate and individually because if you attempted to do , since
dt dt dx
dy
there are no x’s in the function of y, it would always evaluate to 0. Therefore, to get , you
dx
must first find the derivative with respect to t for each function and then divide them. The
 dy
dt dy dt
division of can be represented as multiplication in this form ∙ . It is then apparent that
dx dt dx
dt
dy
the dt’s cancel out and you are left with . To find the second derivative, we must blend
dx
dy
together all of the previous statements. It is not possible to take the derivative of by using the
dx
same method used for the second derivative of a regular function because, as stated previously,
dy
d ( )
dx would always be 0. Therefore, we must take the derivative of
dy
dx
in terms of t, giving us
dx
dy
d ( )
dx . This simplifies down to
d2 y
dx ∙ dt
. If you refer back to the notation for the second derivative
dt
d2 y
( 2 ), you will immediately realize that the denominator has an unnecessary dt and is lacking
dx
dt d 2 y dt
one dx. To make this match the correct notation, we can multiply this by a to get ∙ ,
dx dx ∙ dt dx
d2 y
which simplifies down to , which, finally, is the proper notation for the second derivative!
dx 2
dy
( )
d
Thus the second derivative of a parametric is given by dx dt , which is more commonly
∙
dt dx
dy
d( )
dx
d dy
( )
dt dx
represented as dt or .
dx
dx
dt
dt

Hopefully this helped you understand all of this derivative nonsense a little bit more!
Unfortunately this is late considering you had your test today, but no harm in learning right?