9/6/2021

LECTURE 4
THE DERIVATIVE

Objectives
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 The Slope of a Straight Line

 The Slope of a Curve at a Point
 The Derivative
 Some Rules for Differentiation
 The Derivatives as a Rate of Change
 Differentiability and Continuity

The Slope of a Linear Function

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The Slope of a Linear Function

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 The slope of a linear function y = ax + b is

 a = y / x (difference quotient)
 The slope of a linear function is constant.

Example
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 A manufacturer finds that the total cost of

producing x units of a commodity (in dollars) is
C = 2x + 1000
 What is the economic significance of the slope
of the line C = 2x + 1000?

Secant Line & Tangent Line

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Slope of Nonlinear Functions

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 The slope of a nonlinear function y = f(x)

 is the slope of a tangent line at the point
 is generally different at different points of evaluation

Slope of Nonlinear Functions

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y
slope = 4

slope is 2

1 2 x

The Derivative
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 The derivative of y = f(x) at x = x0 is

 f’(x0) = limx0 [ f(x0 + x) - f(x0) ] / x
= limx0 [ y / x]
 Thus the derivative is the slope of a function.

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Derivative and Tangent Line

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y Tangent line has a negative slope

so derivative is negative.

Derivative and Tangent Line

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y Tangent line has a zero slope

so derivative is zero.

Derivative and Tangent Line

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y Tangent line has a positive slope

so derivative is positive.

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Differentiable Functions
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 A function is said to be differentiable at x0 if its

derivative exists at x0.
 dy = 𝑓′ 𝑥 dx
 y =(x-1)3 dy=

Non-differentiable Functions
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 If a function is not differentiable at x0, it is

non-differentiable at x0.
 y=|x|

Differentiability & Continuity

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 If f(x) is differentiable at x0, then it is

continuous at x0.
 The converse statement is false.
 y = |x|

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Some Rules for Differentiation

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 f(x) = xk f’(x) = kxk-1

 f(x) = c f’(x) = 0

 f(x) = ex f’(x) = ex

 f(x) = lnx f’(x) = 1/x

Some Rules for Differentiation

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 h(x) = k.f(x) h’(x) = kf’(x)

 h(x) = f(x) + g(x) h’(x) = f’(x) + g’(x)

 h(x) = f(x).g(x) h’(x) =f’(x)g(x) + f(x)g’(x)

 h(x) = f(x)/g(x) h’(x)= [f’(x)g(x)- f(x)g’(x)]/g2(x)

Example
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 y=5x2-x+1

 y=(x2-x+1)ex

 y=(x2-x+1)/(x+2)

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The Chain Rule

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 h(x)=fog(x) h’(x)=f’(g(x)) g’(x)

Example
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 y=(5x2-x+1)2016

 y=e2016x+1

 y=exp(-x2/2)

 y=ln(x2-x+1)

Inverse Function
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 y = f(x) is a one-to-one function

 x = f-1(y) is the inverse of f
 f-1’(y0)=?

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Example
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 Q = 100-2P
 P’(5)?

Rate of change
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Consider a function f(x) defined 6

The Tangent Line at A(1, 1)
on the interval a ≤ x ≤ b.
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Average rate of change 4 B(2, 4)

= (f(b) – f(a)) / (b – a)
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Y

= Slope of the secant-line

Tangent
joining A (a,f(a)) and B (b,f(b)). 2 Line

A(1, 1) C(1.25, 1.5625)

Hence, f’(a) measures the rate 1
y = x^2
of change of f(x) at x = a. 0
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5 1.75 2
X

Velocity
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Velocity and Acceleration

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 An everyday illustration of rate of change is

given by the velocity of a moving object.
 Select a convenient reference point.
 The speedometer tells us how fast we are
moving.
 Average speed over time h: (s(t + h) – s(t)) / h
 Instantaneous speed at t: v(t) = s’(t).
 The derivative of velocity function is called the
acceleration function: a(t) = v’(t)
 How fast we change the velocity.

Ball throwing example

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 A ball is throw straight up into the air, its position

may be measured as the vertical distance from
the ground. Regard “up” as positive direction and
let s(t) be the height of the ball in meter after t
seconds. Suppose that S(t) = -16t2 + 128t + 5
 What is the velocity after 2 seconds?
 What is the acceleration after 2 seconds?
 At what time is the velocity -32 meter per second?
(Meaning: the ball is falling).
 When is the ball at a height of 117 meter?

Solution
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The Second Derivative

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 When we differentiate a function f(x), we obtain a

new function f’(x) .
 If we differentiate the function f’(x), we obtain the
second derivative of f(x), denoted by f”(x).
 Note:
 The acceleration is actually the second derivative of
the position function s(t).
 Units:
 f’(x) has unit = (unit of y) / (unit of x)
 f”(x) has unit = (unit of y) / (unit of x) 2

Example
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 S(t) = -16t2 + 128t + 5

 S’(t)
 S’’(t)

Higher Order Derivatives

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y(n)=[y(n-1) ]’
 y=ex
 y’=
 y’’=
 …

 y(2016)=

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Other Notation for Derivatives

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Prime Notation d/dx Notation

f’(x) 𝑑
𝑓(𝑥)
𝑑𝑥
y’ 𝑑𝑦
𝑑𝑥
f’’(x) 𝑑2
𝑓(𝑥)
𝑑𝑥2
y’’ 𝑑2𝑦
𝑑𝑥2
y(n) 𝑑𝑛𝑦
𝑑𝑥𝑛

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