Lectures 1-2 Calculus I

MATH 203
CHAPTER (2)
THE DERIVATIVE
2.1 TANGENT LINES AND RATES OF CHANGE :
Page (131)
Tangent Lines :
* Referring to Figure 2.1.1 the slope m PQ of the secant line
through P  x0 , f  x0   and Q  x , f  x   on the curve of
y  f  x  is
f  x   f  x0 
m PQ  .
x  x0

Figure 2.1.1
* If we let x approach x0 , then the point Q will move along the
curve and approach the point P. If the secant line through P
and Q approaches a limiting position as x  x0 , then we will
regard that position to be the position of the tangent line at P.

2.1.1 Definition : Page (132)

Suppose that x0 is in the domain of the function f. The tangent
line to the curve y  f  x  at the point P  x0 , f  x0   is the
line with equation
y  f  x0   mtan  x  x0 
where
f  x   f  x0 
mt an  lim 1 
x  x0 x  x0
provided the limit exists. For simplicity , we will also call this
the tangent line to y  f  x  at x0 .

Example 1 : Page (132)

Use definition 2.1.1 to find an equation for the tangent line to the
parabola y  x 2 at the point P  1 ,1  .
Solution
* Applying Formula  1  with f  x   x 2 and x0  1 , we have
 f  x   f  x0 
mt an  lim
x  x0 x  x0
f  x   f 1 
 lim
x 1 x 1
x2 1
 lim
x 1 x  1
Remember that :
*  a 2  b2    a  b  a  b 
 x  1  x  1 
 lim
x 1 x 1
 lim  x  1   2 .
x 1

* Thus , the tangent line to y  x 2 at  1 ,1  has equation

y  f  x0   mtan  x  x0 
y  1  2 x  1 
y 1 2x  2
or equivalently y  2x 1 .
* There is an alternative way of expressing Formula  1  that is
commonly used. If we let h denote the difference
h  x  x0
then the statement that x  x0 is equivalent to the statement
h  0 , so we can rewrite  1  in terms of x0 and h as
 f  x0  h   f  x0 
mtan  lim
h 0
2 
h
* Figure 2.1.2 shows how Formula  2  express the slope of the
tangent line as a limit of slopes of secant lines.

Figure 2.1.2

Example 2 : Page (133)

Compute the slope in Example 1 using Formula  2  .
Solution
* Applying Formula  2  with f  x   x 2 and x0  1 , we obtain
f  x0  h   f  x0 
mtan  lim
h 0 h
f 1  h   f 1 
 lim
h 0 h
 1  h 2  1 2
 lim
h 0 h
Remember that :
*  a  b  2  a 2  2ab  b2
1  2h  h2 1 2h  h2
 lim  lim
h 0 h h 0 h
h 2  h 
 lim  lim  2  h   2
h 0 h h 0
which agrees with the slope found in Example 1.

Example 3 : Page (133)

Find an equation for the tangent line to the curve y  2 / x at
the point  2 ,1  on this curve.
Solution
* First , we will find the slope of the tangent line by Formula  2 
with f  x   2 / x and x0  2 . This yields
f  x0  h   f  x0 
mtan  lim
h 0 h
f 2  h   f 2 
 lim
h 0 h
2
1
 lim 2  h
h 0 h
Remember that :
 a ab
* 1
b b
 2  2  h  
 2 h 
h
 lim    lim
h 0 h h 0 h 2  h 

 1 

1
   lim   .
 h 0 2  h  2
* Thus , an equation of the tangent line to y  2 / x at  2 ,1  is
y  f  x0   mtan  x  x0 
1
y  1   x  2 
2
1
y 1  x 1
2
1
or equivalently y  x 2 .
2
 Figure 2.1.3

Example 4 : Page (134)

Find the slopes of the tangent lines to the curve y  x at
x0  1 , x0  4 , and x0  9 .
Solution
* We could compute each of these slopes separately , but it will be
more efficient to find the slope for a general value of x0 and
substitute the specific numerical values. Proceeding in this
way we obtain
f  x0  h   f  x0 
mtan  lim
h 0 h
x0  h  x0
 lim
h 0 h
 x0  h  x0 x0  h  x0
 lim .
h 0 h x0  h  x0
Remember that :
*  a b  
a  b ab
x0  h  x0
 lim
h 0 h  x0  h  x0 
h
 lim
h 0 h  x0  h  x0 
1 1
 lim  .
h 0 x0  h  x0 2 x0
* The slopes at x0  1 , 4 , and 9 can now be obtained by
substituting these values into our general formula for mtan .
Thus ,
1 1
slop e at x0  1 :  .
2 1 2
1 1
slop e at x0  4 :  .
2 4 4
1 1
slop e at x0  9 :  .
2 9 6
 Figure 2.1.4

EXERCISE SET 2.1: (Home Work) Page (140)

15-18 A function y  f  x  and an x-value x0 are given.
(a) Find a formula for the slope of the tangent line to the
graph of f at a general point x  x0 .
(b) Use the formula obtained in part (a) to find the slope of
the tangent line for the given value of x0 .
15. f  x   x 2  1 ; x0   1
16. f  x   x 2  3 x  2 ; x0  2
17. f  x   x  x ; x0  1
18. f  x   1 / x ; x0  4